Phryne the Comedian was a notable hetaera or courtesan of Athens, remembered throughout the millennia for her dramatic court case which she won by baring her breasts. Her real name was Mnesarete, but people called her Phryne (“toad”), because of the yellow complexion of her skin.
Her story has survived for thousands of years, with the legendary model and courtesan becoming the ultimate symbol of freedom from sexism, as well as repression disguised as piety.
Phryne was born around 371 BC in Thespiae (Boeotia), but spent most of her life in Athens. Because of her impressive appearance, she became a model, posing for various painters and sculptors, including Praxiteles, who was also one of her most frequent clients. One of the statues modeled by Praxiteles after Phryne was purchased by the city of Cnidus – after the city of Kos which had originally commissioned it objected to it being a nude – and the statue became a a tourist magnet so remarkable that the city managed to repay its price. the entire debt.
Phryne’s beauty also became the subject of many ancient Greek writers, who praised her appearance, with Athenaeus openly adoring her in her work entitled The Deipnosophists. From this work we also know that Phryne was the richest self-made woman in Athens at the time.
She became so rich and powerful during her lifetime that she even offered to finance the rebuilding of the walls of Thebes, destroyed by Alexander the Great in 336 BC. Intimidated by the idea that a female model and a courtesan could restore what a great king like Alexander the Great had destroyed, Phryne’s offer was rejected by the local authorities of Thebes and the walls remained in their ruined state. .
Regardless of her great wealth and beauty – and her prominent clients – what keeps Phryne’s memory alive to this day is her famous trial. According to Athenaeus, Phryne was prosecuted for an offense punishable by capital punishment and defended by the orator Hypereides, one of her lovers. Athenaeus does not specify the nature of the accusation, although other historical sources state that she was accused of desecrating the Eleusinian mysteries.
Although there is much debate among scholars about what actually happened that day in court, Athenaeus wrote that Hyperiides tore off Phryne’s dress in the middle of the courtroom to show the judges her beautiful body. His reasoning was that only the gods could sculpt such a perfect body; thus killing or imprisoning her would be considered blasphemy and disrespect to the gods.
What seemed like an unfavorable verdict for Phryne turned into a glorious victory for her after Hyperiides’ inspired action. Phryné emerges triumphant from court and her story inspires numerous works of art, including the iconic painting Phryné before the Areopagus by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1861) and the sculpture Phryné before the judges, by Albert Weine, from 1948.
Additionally, Baudelaire wrote two poems about her, the composer Saint-Saëns wrote an opera about her (Phryne, 1893), and several modern writers have written novels about her controversial trial.
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