Sexual labor in the Athenian courts

Author / Creator

Glazebrook, Allison, 1966- author

Available as

Online

Summary

"Ancient Greek oratory has long been seen as a source for cultural and historical information, in this case on sexual labor, which is generally treated differently within ancient speeches than with...

"Ancient Greek oratory has long been seen as a source for cultural and historical information, in this case on sexual labor, which is generally treated differently within ancient speeches than within other genres, such as comedy or philosophy. Oratory provides evidence of male and female sex laborers, the private ownership of sex slaves, Athenian brothels, sex traffickers (the majority of whom appear to have been female), the cost of sex, the use of contracts between sex laborers and clients, manumission practices for sex slaves, and even the sharing of a sex laborer between two clients (as either joint owners or through a contract for exclusive use). As opposed to the stereotypical witty, educated hetaira that appears in other Athenian literature, sex laborers as they appear in Athenian speeches are portrayed as potentially dangerous transgressors that threaten social on both male and female sex laborers found within. Each chapter focuses on a specific theme (such as desire, the household, or dangerous women) and uses that as a touchstone to examine the representations of prostitutes and sexuality within the speech. Although prostitution was legal in ancient Athens, it was often complicated by notions of gender and sex, citizenship, slavery and ownership, and other issues that become apparent in the speeches. The variety of ways in which prostitution was approached within oratory help reveal the complex cultural constructions around the activity. Glazebrook shows that the different ways in which sex laborers interact with each other and with society as a whole, as depicted in the speeches, reveal the complexity and diversity not only of sexual labor itself, but also of the attitudes, ambiguities, and anxieties that surrounded sexual labor in classical Athens"--

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