Phryne in Front of the Judges, 338 BC

Phryne was a Courtesan from Ancient Greece who was incredibly beautiful. She was so beautiful in fact, that it earned her a lot of money as a courtesan and so she was also incredibly wealthy and famous.

At the festival of Poseidon she took her clothes off, let her hair down, and walked into the ocean to bathe in front of everyone. (Apelles the artist had attended that festival and it is suggested the sight of her emerging from the ocean inspired him to paint Venus Anadyomene, which then led to the creation of famous painting of Aphrodite emerging from her shell.)

She strived to be recognized as an equal member in ancient Greek society, which practiced little to no female rights, especially for courtesans. In 336 BC when Alexander the Great destroyed the wall of Thebes in his invasion, Phryne offered some of her vast wealth to help rebuild it, on the condition that it be inscribed ‘destroyed by Alexander, restored by Phryne the courtesan’. Although the wall badly needed to be rebuilt in order to defend the city, authorities rejected her offer. The men of Greece would rather be killed by invaders then swallow their pride and accept help from a woman; a courtesan no less.

One day she was accused of profaning the gods and she was put on trial. Just when it seemed as though the verdict would be unfavorable, her lawyer tore her robes off in front of the judges to purposely reveal her naked body. Beauty in ancient Greece, especially beauty as astonishing as Phrynes, was viewed as a gift from the gods and a mark of divinity. The judges were so moved by her beauty that they acquitted her. Phryne remains to this day an ancient Greek symbol of beauty and sexual liberation.

1. passio-umbra liked this
2. delicatemold reblogged this from lauriejuspeczyk
3. cajunspiceoflife liked this
4. cajunspiceoflife reblogged this from lauriejuspeczyk
5. immachdracht liked this
6. mercydoll liked this
7. mercydoll reblogged this from lauriejuspeczyk
8. violence258go liked this
9. sailorhentai liked this
10. sweet-silent-serenity reblogged this from petite-gin
11. petite-gin liked this
12. petite-gin reblogged this from beowulfandgrundle
13. destroyingsomethingbeautiful liked this
14. miss-anne-dree reblogged this from beowulfandgrundle
15. beowulfandgrundle reblogged this from ish8calabash
16. ish8calabash reblogged this from thepizzamermaid
17. pendeltongetsitdon reblogged this from cheeburga
18. theadeliashow liked this
19. luhvconquersall reblogged this from mudandclay
20. iwish4unicornsiamtheswanqueen reblogged this from jeeezjoy
21. jeeezjoy reblogged this from anntiquehaze
22. closertomydreaams reblogged this from anntiquehaze
23. anntiquehaze reblogged this from hazes
24. mudandclay reblogged this from couche-toi
25. couche-toi reblogged this from hazes
26. tamagotchibaby liked this
27. malditaputa liked this
28. m0su liked this
29. randapandable reblogged this from cheeburga
30. elijamerica liked this
31. cheeburga reblogged this from hazes
32. martzart liked this
33. memorialcorridor liked this
34. hazes reblogged this from thepizzamermaid
35. anoellem reblogged this from thepizzamermaid
36. thepizzamermaid reblogged this from lauriejuspeczyk
37. scarlet-shadow reblogged this from lauriejuspeczyk
38. thechroniclesofauroramars reblogged this from lauriejuspeczyk
39. twobithustler reblogged this from lauriejuspeczyk
40. myshruglife liked this
41. bluemoan reblogged this from iamtayloralexander
42. iamjacks-complete-lackofsurprise reblogged this from supernovaxsailor
43. mewiththeface reblogged this from supernovaxsailor
44. supernovaxsailor reblogged this from lauriejuspeczyk
45. thechroniclesofauroramars liked this
46. azhriaz liked this
47. franchinidvi liked this
48. benckendorfs liked this
49. bdsmpost liked this
50. pornsnob liked this
51. Show more notesLoading...