Thaïs the courtesan [conducted] the ceremony. She was the first after the king to throw her blazing torch into the palace…What was most remarkable was that the sacrilege committed by Xerxes…against the Acropolis of Athens was avenged by a single woman, a fellow-citizen of the victims, who many years later, and in sport, inflicted the same treatment on the Persians. – Diodorus of Sicily
In order to give the broadest and most interesting picture of the lives of harlots, I try to choose the subjects of my harlotographies from as wide a range of time periods as possible. I have decided that I won’t write on anyone who is still alive, but that still means I can cover contemporary figures such as Deborah Jeane Palfrey or Robyn Few, who have passed on very recently. But on the other end, the boundary isn’t nearly as clear; I would be willing to write about a whore of Uruk or Mohenjo-Daro could I find a biography of one to draw from, but it seems as though Rhodopis of the 6th century BCE may be about as early as I’m able to go; her life story is a mixture of fact, surmise and legend, and though we know the names of earlier whores (such as Shamhat and Rahab), they are largely inhabitants of the sphere of legend. This is really not so surprising when one considers that we know little more than the names and dates of most kings from earlier times, and virtually nothing about anyone else unless they had some impact on the affairs of kings.
Thaïs was an Athenian hetaera who, unlike most of her profession, enjoyed travel. Nothing is known of her life prior to 334 BCE, but she must have already achieved quite a reputation as a courtesan because sometime around that date she attracted the attention of Alexander the Great (either directly or through a relationship with his general and close friend Ptolemy) and afterward accompanied him on all of his Persian campaigns. Her exact relationship with Alexander is unclear; obviously the fact that she was often seen with him demonstrates that he was extremely fond of her, but it is unknown whether she was his lover or Ptolemy’s at this time. It may be that he merely enjoyed her company; she was said to have been very wise, an accomplished orator and a ready wit with a large repertoire of dirty jokes.
Her most famous (or infamous) contribution to history came soon after Alexander took Persopolis, capital of the Persian Empire. After allowing his troops to loot the city for several days, Alexander decided to rest here for a few months and set up his headquarters in the Palace of Xerxes. Historians have varying views about what exactly happened next, but let’s look at some facts and see if we can’t connect the dots: Xerxes invaded Greece in 480 BCE and, after defeating the Spartans at Thermopylae, occupied Athens. Immediately after he took possession of the city it (including the Temple of Athena on the Acropolis) was largely destroyed by fire; though this may have been an accident caused by Athenians fleeing Xerxes’ approach, naturally the leaders preferred to claim that the conqueror had done it on purpose, and by the time Thaïs was educated almost 150 years later this was taught as historical fact.
Now, Alexander was a heavy drinker, and after one of his legendary wild parties had been underway for long enough for his judgment to be well and truly numbed, Thaïs stood up and made a speech which convinced him that Xerxes’ act of sacrilege against Athena should be avenged by burning down his palace. A great procession was arranged in which all the participants either played music or carried torches, and Thaïs ordered the building evacuated; when everyone was safely clear she egged Alexander into hurling his torch into the building, and hers immediately followed. Everyone else then did the same, and the blaze was so great that it soon spread out of control and consumed the entire palace district, though apparently the neighbors fled quickly because there were no recorded fatalities.
If she ever was Alexander’s lover, she had ceased to be by 327 BCE; in the spring of that year he was smitten by the strikingly beautiful Roxana, Princess of Bactria, who married him and accompanied him until his death four years later. Whether Thaïs had started with Ptolemy or not, it is certain she ended up with him and bore him three children named Lagus, Leontiscus and Eirene. After Alexander’s death Ptolemy became the King of Egypt, but though he married Thaïs around this time she did not become his queen because he opted for a political marriage instead. Her daughter Eirene, however, did become a queen as the wife of Soli, King of Cyprus.
Though history records a few minor references to her children, Thaïs herself lapses into obscurity after their births; we do not even know the year of her death. Like so many people of pre-modern times we see her only in proximity to great events in which she was involved: she emerges from shadow into the great circle of light cast by that burning palace, is visible while she crosses the area, and then vanishes again into the darkness on the other side.
Hi Maggie,
Here is a Thais of a different stripe. I’m sure that the prohibitionists of her time would have used her life story to great effect.
However, I am fond of the intermezzo “Meditation” from Massenet’s Opera “Thais” who, unfortunately, is the heroine inspired by the Catholic Saint rather than the Greek Courtesan. In fact, I had never heard of the Greek Thais before and am happy to have made her acquaintance, even if by proxy.
Yeah, I kept running into the saint while trying to dig up additional information on (and pictures of) the hetaera. 🙂
Good post, and very true about the limited information we have for people – only their involvement in major events is hinted at.
One thing we know for sure though is that Thaïs was sex trafficked by Alexander the Great. Now there’s a point not often covered in history classes. 😛
LOL! True, by the current definition! So was Roxana, because she was a foreign bride who clearly felt compelled to marry him due to the threat he presented to her country! 😀
[…] The Honest Courtesan – Frank commentary from a retired call girl. […]
Just imagine any modern leader travelling with a courtesan openly in his entourage.
Yeah, nowadays they’re usually described as “secretaries” or “personal assistants”.
Also, “campaign worker” is a popular title. (See Rielle Hunter.)
Jerry Brown had no problem doing this during his first time as governor. Nor does Schwarzenegger’s checkered past (including drugs!) seem to have hurt his career. It’s a toss-up whether this really means that we are starting to outgrow judging other people’s sex lives. Certainly even the Left doesn’t extend that courtesy to politicians on the Right, whether or not hypocrisy (on the politician’s part) is involved. This may be hypocrisy on the Left’s part.
Both the Left and the Right (and probably the Center, if there still is one) are more forgiving of their own Great Men’s dalliances.
Schwarzenegger never struck me as an anti-sex type, so as far as I’m concerned his extracurricular activities are between him, Maria, and whoever else is involved. And God, if they believe in Him.
Nice!
I love your neologism “harlotography”. Playful fusion of harlotry and pornography. You probably created it yourself, didn’t you, Maggie? Did you do this because the proper word “pornography” (πόρνη = whore) was hijacked a long time ago to describe in detail the sex between people who usually aren’t whores in the strict sense of the word? Today it portrays whores at work too rarely. And hasn’t pornography as we know it become so much the public domain of non-whores having sex, that all people having sex could be called amateur whores, and the world one grand amateur whore stage? The dividing line is fading.
I think ‘harlotography’ derives from ‘harlot’ and ‘biography’, not ‘pornography’.
Score one for the duck-billed fellow! 😉
Yes, it’s a fusion of “harlot” and “biography”, made specifically to resemble the world “hagiography” (a biography of a saint).
Dear Maggie,
Congratulations, you have been awarded the Hot Kiss Award. As recipient, please Link back to the blogger who nominated you.
Post the award image to your page.
Share 7 facts about yourself. (Not required but fun to do.)
Nominate 15 other blogs and inform them about it.
Yours,
HH & Lo
You forgot the obligatory parts about “If you don’t do this, gypsy crones will put a curse on you” AND “this is not a chain letter.”
No, this is the latest form of the “Versatile Blogger Award“, which has changed names twice since the first time someone gave it to me; actually, I have linked to My Sex Life With Lola for some time now, on the “Permanent Links” page. 🙂
And I thank you for it. You’re on our “Following” page as well!
I’m not worried about the gypsy crones, as long as it isn’t the gypsy whores!
But as long as I avoid going to major sporting events I should be safe from them.
The last paragraph of this essay is hauntingly beautiful. I read it three times. It ends with a particularly memorable sentence.
A perfect summary of the limited way we’re able to view a unique being through the dusty lens of time.
Thank you, Gorbachev; I took considerable care to get that one right so I’m glad it was appreciated. 🙂
My name is thais! It is a very common name in Brazil