hetaera

See also: hetæra

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.

From Ancient Greek ἑταῖρα (hetaîra), feminine of ἑταῖρος (hetaîros, “companion”).

hetaera (plural hetaerae or hetaeras)

(historical, Ancient Greece) A highly cultivated hired female companion who would entertain upper-class male clients and might perform sex acts for them.
Coordinate term: courtesan
- 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...
A mistress.
- 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.

hired female companion