Talk:Hetaira

A note

The link to courtisanerie seems to be misdirected in the context of this article. That article seems to discuss the activities of courtiers, not courtesans. Perhaps a link to courtesan instead? -- April 00:25, 19 Nov 2003 (UTC)

The former has been redirected to the latter. Ellsworth 20:50, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)

"Physical talents"

What does that term mean? Is it a euphemism for 'sexual talents'? If so, I think we should say the latter. Anchoress · Weigh Anchor · Catacomb 19:28, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

I just came to say the same thing. Dance and music are largely physical; certainly they are also mental, but what is not? -Pgan002 (talk) 02:10, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

NSFW pictures?

Just a question about NSFW pictures - the illustrative picture on this page appears to be close to the line, in that I would be uncomfortable having that pop up on my screen at work. Is there a policy on this and where does this picture fall? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.112.94.152 (talk) 00:35, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia is not censored, so the only policy is to use illustrative freely-licensed pictures exactly where they are the most illustrative. Anchoress · Weigh Anchor · Catacomb 00:46, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

public exclusion of wives

Should mention that one of the main foundations of the whole hetaerism system (as opposed to simple prostitution) was that legitimate wives were often forbidden from participating in many public events, including the banquets or "symposia" which often made up such a large part of ancient Greek social life (such exclusion of "virtuous" women seems to have been especially strict in Athens), which made it necessary to have "unvirtuous" women available if men wanted to have female companionship at such events... AnonMoos (talk) 09:46, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

Modern parallel?

By the way, a somewhat modern parallel would seem to be Japanese geisha and bar "hostesses" -- just like the socially-active and moderately wealthy citizens of ancient Athens (who spent many hours at convivial feasts or "symposia"), modern Japanese salarymen spend many hours socializing after work with their fellow employees, and in both cases (as a matter of firmly-established custom) their wives can't accompany them to these social occasions, so that they need other female companionship there... AnonMoos (talk) 13:25, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

No we should not make the claim that Japanese barpersons are prostitutes without sufficient reliable sources to say that is what they are. ~ R.T.G 13:53, 2 April 2020 (UTC)

Etymology of Hetaera

Why does this article refer to these women as “hetaerae” instead of “hetairai”? The former spelling apparently comes from Medieval Latin, while the latter spelling comes directly from the Ancient Greek. See “Hetaera” Entry in Online Etymology Dictionary as a reference. The “hetairai” spelling might be more appropriate, especially since this article deals primarily with Greek historical figures while referencing Greek primary sources. 67.174.12.194 (talk) 09:34, 29 November 2013 (UTC)

Google ngrams shows that 'hetaira' is more common than 'hetaera', being used between 2 and 5 times as often. --ABehrens (talk) 19:33, 1 February 2020 (UTC)

Images

Given that one of the main debates about hetairai today is whether and how they can be recognised in artistic depictions, we should really provide sources supporting that the images included are believed to be of hetairai. Looking at the artworks currently in the article, for instance, the kylix by Makron in the MET is described on their online collections catalogue as showing a "man and woman reclining", while the terracotta figurine in the Louvre is described on their collection catalogue as being of two banqueters and a musician.
Of the ancient depictions currently included in the article, six of the eight show women with musical instruments. Do sources support identifying all of these as hetairai? Our article on prostitution in ancient Greece groups the musicians hired to perform at symposia in with pornai rather than hetairai. McClure 2024 says of the flute-girl: "the female figures represented as engaging in ... sympotic activities, like the auletris, on sympotic cups are more likely to be prostitutes, although it is impossible to determine whether the male viewer would have labeled them hetaeras" (p.63). Caeciliusinhorto-public (talk) 14:45, 28 October 2024 (UTC)