When people ask me what purpose a Hetaera serves in our fair city, I immediately think about this explanation that my old friend Demosthenes gave. He's quoted as saying:
"We have hetaerae for pleasure, pallakae (pornai) to care for our daily body's needs and wives to bear us legitimate children and to be faithful guardians of our households."
Now, I can't speak to the roles of the pornai or the wives, but I am certainly glad that the one mention of pleasure goes to us. Cause that's our job. We offer what no other class of woman can in Ancient Athens. A true companion of the opposite sex. Nope, you won't find a smarter or more charming set of ladies than the Hetaera. We went to school for this stuff!
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