Event
Edward Cohen, author of the new Oxford monograph Athenian Prostitution: The Business of Sex, will discuss male and female prostitution at Athens, and explore why the sale of sex –– lawful and pervasive in the classical city, presented alluringly in some of our sources –– evoked negativity from Greeks uncomfortable with carnality and/or commerce. Prof. Cohen will contrast legislation punishing governmental leaders who had functioned as male prostitutes with the high compensation earned by female sexual entrepreneurs. Finally, he will examine the seemingly contradictory phenomena of extensive sexual exploitation of slave prostitutes (male and female) coexisting with Athenian society's pride in its legislative protection of slaves and minors against sexual outrage.
Free lecture. Book signing to follow.