Phryne
Phryne (
/ˈfraɪni/; Ancient Greek: Φρύνη) was a famous hetaera (courtesan) of Ancient Greece (4th century BC).
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[edit] Early life
Her real name was Mnesarete (Μνησαρέτη "commemorating virtue"), but owing to her yellowish complexion she was called Phryne "Toad", a name given to other courtesans. She was born at Thespiae in Boeotia, but seems to have lived at Athens. She acquired so much wealth by her extraordinary beauty that she offered to rebuild the walls of Thebes, which had been destroyed by Alexander the Great (336 BC), on condition that the words destroyed by Alexander, restored by Phryne the courtesan, were inscribed upon them Athenaeus.[1][2] The authorities turned down her offer.
[edit] Fame
She was famously beautiful. On the occasion of a festival of Poseidon at Eleusis, she laid aside her garments, let down her hair, and stepped nude into the sea in the sight of the people, thus suggesting to the painter Apelles his great picture of Ἀφροδίτη Ἀναδυομένη Aphrodite Anadyomene (also portrayed at times as this Venus Anadyomene), for which Phryne herself sat as model. Other works of art from the period are alleged to be modeled after Phryne. She was also (according to some) the model for the statue of the Aphrodite of Knidos by Praxiteles. A statue of Phryne, the work of Praxiteles, was placed in a temple at Thespiae by the side of a statue of Aphrodite by the same artist. Diogenes Laertius narrates a failed attempt Phryne made on the virtue of the philosopher Xenocrates.[3]
[edit] Trial
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When accused of profaning the Eleusinian Mysteries, she was defended by the orator Hypereides, one of her lovers.[1] The speech for the prosecution was written by Anaximenes of Lampsacus according to Diodorus Periegetes. [4] When it seemed as if the verdict would be unfavourable, Hypereides tore open her robe and displayed her breasts, which so moved her judges that they acquitted her. According to others, she herself removed her clothing. The judges' change of heart was not simply because they were overcome by the beauty of her nude body, but because such unusual physical beauty was often seen as a facet of divinity or a mark of divine favor during those times.
[edit] Doubts on authenticity of disrobing scene
It is argued by Craig Cooper that Phryne never bared her chest before the court during her trial.[5] Our knowledge of Phryne's trial is based on Athenaeus [6] and more briefly Pseudo-Plutarch. [7] Both versions ultimately derive from the work of the biographer Hermippus of Smyrna (ca 200 B.C.) who adapted the story from Idomeneus of Lampsacus (ca 300 B.C.).
The earliest known description of the trial is found in the Ephesia of Poseidippus of Cassandreia. He simply describes Phryne as clasping the hand of each juror and with tears pleading for her life. It is a scene of supplication without disrobing being mentioned. If the disrobing did happen, Poseidippus would most likely have mentioned it because he was a comic poet. Therefore the only conclusion can be that the disrobing of Phryne must have been a later invention, sometime after 290 B.C., when Poseidippus was active as a poet. Idomeneus was writing around that time.
The evidence suggests that Idomeneus, possibly in his desire to parody and ridicule the courtroom displays of Athenian demagogues. Considering his preference for attributing sexual excess to these demagogues the provocative act of disrobing Phryne fits the character Hyperides had acquired in Idomeneus' work. As is not uncommon in the biographical tradition, later biographers failed to notice that earlier biographers did not give an accurate representation of events. The later biographer Hermippus incorporated the account of Idomeneus in his own biography. An extract from Hermippus' biography, not Idomeneus, is preserved in the work of Athenaeus and Pseudo-Plutarch.
[edit] In modern and contemporary culture
Due to her beauty, she also inspired the much later painting by artist Jean-Léon Gérôme, Phryné devant l'Areopage (Phryne before the Areopagus, 1861) as well as other works of art throughout history, though none of our sources mentions the court to have been Areopagus (both Athenaeus and Pseudo-Plutarch tell us only about "dicasts", i.e. judges or jurors, so the court could have been a regular dikasterion). Charles Baudelaire in his poems Lesbos and La beauté and Rainer Maria Rilke in his poem Die Flamingos were inspired by her beauty and fame. Phryné was also the subject of an opera by Camille Saint-Saëns: Phryné (1893). Dimitris Varos, modern Greek poet and writer, wrote a book called Phryne. Witold Jabłoński, Polish fantasy writer, also wrote a book called Phryne the Hetaera.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Chisholm 1911.
- ^ Athenaeus, 13.591d
- ^ Diogenes Laertius. The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, Book IV
- ^ (Athenaeus 13.591e)
- ^ Cooper, Craig (1995). Hyperides and the trial of Phryne. Phoenix, 49(4), 303–318.
- ^ Athenaeus 13.590d-e
- ^ (X Orat. 849d-e)
- Attribution
Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Phryne". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.- Athenaeus: The Deipnosophists, Book 13, Pages 589-599
[edit] Further reading
- Lardinois, André & McClure, Laura (Eds.). (2001). Making Silence Speak: Wiomen’s Voices in Greek Literature and Society. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691004662.
- Nalden, F.S. (2006). Ancient Supplication. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195385984.
- Cavallini, Eleonora. Phryne in Modern Art, Cinema and Cartoon.
[edit] External links
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- Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae [1]
- Claudius Aelianus, Varia Historia (Ποικιλη Ιστορια) ix. 32.
- Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia xxxiv. 71.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
