Born: 371 BC (circa), Greece
Died: 310 BC (circa)
Country most active: Greece
Also known as: Mnesarete, Phrine
This biography was originally published in the World History Encyclopedia and was written by Joshua J. Mark. It is shared in line with the Encyclopedia’s policies under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Phryne of Thespiae (l. c. 370-c. 316 BCE) was a famous courtesan of Athens, best known for the court case she won by baring her breasts. Her actual name was Mnesarete (“commemorating virtue”), but she was called Phryne (“toad”) because of the yellow complexion of her skin. Ancient writers such as Athenaeus praise her extraordinary beauty, and she was the model for many artists and sculptors in Athens, including chiefly posing as Aphrodite (the existing statue, Aphrodite of Knidos, is thought to be modeled on her). The court case surrounded the charge of impiety, and it has been suggested that, whatever Phryne did, it had something to do with the Eleusinian Mysteries (initiation rites for the cult of Demeter and Persephone). It could be, like Alcibiades, that she had taken the sacred Kykeon (potentially psychoactive drink) for a private party with friends, but this is only conjecture (though, it seems, not out of character).
Her lover Hypereides, a famous orator, defended her in court and spoke eloquently, but it seemed as though the judges were going to condemn her. At this point, Hypereides disrobed Phryne, and the judges were so struck by her beauty that she was acquitted. The truth of this story, like that of Telesilla’s defense of Argos, has been debated for centuries. Some claim that the earliest account of the trial makes no mention of Phryne disrobing and that it was a later invention created to mock the Athenian court; some claim that it was Phryne herself, not Hypereides, who removed her clothes and that she also undid her hair to show herself in the likeness of Aphrodite.
Whatever happened, she was acquitted and went on living a life of luxury as one of the most beautiful and sought-after women of Athens. She became wealthy enough to live as she pleased and even offered to rebuild the walls of Thebes, which Alexander the Great had destroyed, if the people would consent to her inscription reading, “Destroyed by Alexander, Restored by Phryne the Courtesan”, but the Thebans refused her offer.
The following is excerpted from Famous Women: An Outline of Feminine Achievement Through the Ages With Life Stories of Five Hundred Noted Women. Written by Joseph Adelman, published 1926 by Ellis M Lonow Company.
Phryne, an Athenian hetaira or courtesan, who flourished in the latter part of the fourth century B.C. She was of very humble birth, but her transcendent beauty attracting rich admirers, she acquired so much wealth that, after Alexander the Great destroyed the walls of Thebes, she offered to rebuild them, if she could be permitted to put up the following inscription: “Alexander destroyed them, but Phryne rebuilt them.” Among her lovers were some of the most distinguished men of the age. Being accused of profaning the mysteries of Eleusis, she was brought before the judges, where the orator Hypereides, perceiving that his eloquence would fail, secured her triumphant acquittal by unveiling her bosom. Praxiteles modelled from her the Cnidian Venus, and Apelles’ picture of “Venus rising from the Sea” is said to have been taken from Phryne.