Phryne
Authors: Funke Melissa 
Published: December 2023

How did Mnesarete, a girl from Boeotia, turn into Phryne the famous beauty, and how did she end up as an enduring symbol of ancient Greek culture? This book pieces together the story of the notorious fourth-century Athenian sex worker, Phryne. It considers her early life and her development into a cultural figure, whose influence and legacy have lasted from her own lifetime to the present day. It also investigates her infamous nude courtroom appearance, her influence on one of the most well-known statues from antiquity and her connection to celebrated figures from Alexander the Great to the artist Apelles. Her appearances in modern culture, ranging from Belle Epoque cabaret shows to 1950s Italian film, are also analysed, offering an account of how the real life of a woman turned into the biography of a dream girl.

Nothing but fragmentsremain of Phryne’s story, short anecdotes passed on and on again in literary compendia, that tell the story of a witty and beautiful woman who amassed great wealth, associated with some of the most well-known historical figures of ancient Greece. They create an image of a life that is glamorous and titillating, yet they also hint at the tenuous position of a foreign-born sex worker in a society structured to privilege male citizens above all others.

While many scholars have explored individual sources and anecdotes about the fourth-century BCE hetaira Phryne, a thorough assessment of her biographical tradition has not yet been published. Phryne: A Life in Fragments examines the transformation of a real woman into a literary dreamgirl through the process of fragmentation. Focusing on the Hellenistic and Imperial literary traditions and their fascination with sex workers from Classical Athens, this book examines the anecdotes that tell Phryne’s story.

The introduction compiles the stories about Phryne, accounting for how Classical Athens became the focus of literary engagement in the Hellenistic and Imperial periods and the place of the hetairai in this process. Chapter one traces the emergence of Phryne in Athens, examining cases featuring Neaira and Alke to speculate on how Phryne came to Athens and how she may have lived in that city. I also use comedies to investigate Phryne in her own lifetime. Chapter two on Phryne the artist’s model looks at Phryne’s relationship to Praxiteles and her connection to the Aphrodite of Knidos, considering the theme of nudity in her literary depictions. Chapter three further pursues this idea further, offering literary-historical context for the conclusion of the trial, Phryne’s nude revelation.

The final chapter evaluates Phryne’s cultural legacy in paintings, stage performances, and films. It begins with a discussion of the images of Phryne by Angelica Kauffmann, before examining the impact of Gérôme’s Phryne devant l’Areopage on French culture in the nineteenth century. This chapter also considers the women who posed as Phryne and those who played her on stage. I conclude with a discussion of three Italian films that featured Phryne’s stories and their female stars, meditating on the ways that narratives of women’s lives are shaped in the public eye.