Sex Work

This sympotic pot (a wine jug or ‘oinochoe’) likely depicts an Athenian man who has left a symposium and is now banging on the door of brothel with his walking stick and a sex worker with a lamp considers whether to let him in. This is a visual parallel to a common poetic motif. MET 37.11.19.

There has been an explosion of scholarship related to ancient sex work over the past 5 plus years. The secondary literature assigned for this unit is older, 2011, as it is of more of a survey or introductory quality. That said, many of you are focusing your research on some aspect of sex work and thus it is important to be aware of this NEWER scholarship, some of the key works are listed at the end of this page, so be sure to scroll down!

Glazebrook, “Prostitution” 2011.

This article contains an image of a Greek pot decorated with violent penetration.

copy for annotation using hypothes.is

copy made available by the author

Primary Texts

Sources on Girls and Women as Prostitutes

pdf for annotation using hypothes.is

collection of same sources and more freely available online

Sources on Boys and Men as Prostitutes

Sources on this site for annotation using hypothes.is

Primary Material Culture

See PDF of lecture slides on Bb AND video recording of lecture! This presentation discusses gift-exchange and commodification and how one distinguishes one from another.

Notice in this fragment the man has a little sack in his hand we call this a purse. Transactions that have been commodified typically show a male customer offering money to the presumed sex worker. Beazley Archive entry.

Notice the furtive nature of this transaction. Why? Beazley Archive entry.

Compare the two sides! How is exchange or propositioning similar and different? Beazley Archive entry.

Relevant Bibliography

Scholarship by Allison Glazebrook

Survey of previous scholarship and state of the field published in 2015.

McGinn, Thomas. “Prostitution: Controversies and New Approaches” Intro and Survey from 2015.

Kapparis, Konstantinos. Prostitution in the Ancient Greek World Berlin ;Boston: De Gruyter, 2017. Full access ebook through college library.

Allison Glazebrook, and Madeleine M. Henry. Greek Prostitutes in the Ancient Mediterranean, 800 BCE–200 CE. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2011. Full access ebook through college library.

McGinn, Thomas. The Economy of Prostitution in the Roman World: a Study of Social History & the Brothel. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2010. Full access ebook through college library.

Christopher A. Faraone, and Laura K. McClure. Prostitutes and Courtesans in the Ancient World. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2006. Full access ebook through college library.

Cohen, Edward E. 2015. Athenian prostitution: the business of sex. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Physical book only in college library. Google Preview.

Strong, Anise K. Prostitutes and Matrons in the Roman World New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2016. Physical book only in college library. Google Preview.

Edward. E. Cohen. “Athenian Prostitution as a Liberal Profession.” In Gestures, 214–. Oxbow Books, 2017. (chapter available via college library)

Hunt, Peter. 2017. Ancient Greek and Roman Slavery. Newark: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Chapter 7

Glazebrook, Allison, and Madeleine Mary Henry. 2011. Greek prostitutes in the ancient Mediterranean, 800 BCE-200 CE. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press. Full access ebook through college library.

Richlin, Amy. Pornography and Representation in Greece and Rome New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. Older but still useful!! Physical book only in college library.

Sarah Levin-Richardson. The Brothel of Pompeii: Sex, Class and Gender at the Margins of Roman Society. Cambridge University Press, 2019. Not yet available through BC library. Google Preview. Remember you may request chapters via ILL.

In the tondo of this kylix an older man offers money (probably in exchange for sex) to a seated boy. The words above say “The boy is beautiful!” “O PAIS KALOS”.