English

Phryne revealed before the Areopagus (1861) by Jean-Léon Gérôme. The painting depicts Phryne, a famous hetaera of Ancient Greece, on trial before the Areopagus.

Alternative forms

• hetaira

Noun

hetaera ‎(plural hetaerae or hetaeras)

1. (historical) A mistress, especially a highly cultivated courtesan in ancient Greece.
   • 1957, Lawrence Durrell, Justine:

     But of course our friend is only a shallow twentieth-century reproduction of the great hetairae of the past, the type to which she belongs without knowing it, Lais, Charis and the rest...

   • 1971, Gottfried Benn & E. B. Ashton, Primal vision: selected writings‎

     Woman is dethroned as the primary and supreme sex, debased into inseminable hetaera.

   • 1980, Anthony Burgess, Earthly Powers

     Christ appeared, only to reveal himself as the naked god Pan. Ballet of hetaerae and houris, choreography by Italo Castaldi.

Related terms

• etaerio

Translations