Open Letter to Athenian Wives.

"Besides, is not a 'companion' more kindly than a wedded wife? Yes, far more, and with a very good reason. For the wife, protected by the law, stays at home in proud contempt, whereas the harlot knows that man must be bought by her fascinations or she must go out and find another."
-Athenaeus

Dear Wife of an Athenian Citizen who snubbed me on the street the other day,

Do not worry, I, as a Hetaera, am NOT looking to take your place. While you have the comfort of home and children and all the luxuries afforded to you under the Athenian law, I have one thing that you do not; Freedom. Freedom to walk around on my own. Freedom to choose my own lovers. Freedom to make my own money and spend it as I wish. But more than anything, I have the freedom to learn anything and everything that I want to learn. I am just as accomplished as you are in the domestic arts, however I am also accomplished in the arts of the public. Politics, Rhetoric, wit, music and entertainment are afforded me because of my "low" station in this community. So, stop worrying about me. I will entertain, amuse, entice, live with and accompany your husbands out in society and at the Symposiums, but I will never be relegated to the station that you seem to hold in such high regard in the bosom of your family home. And I will forever be thankful for that!

The life of a Hetaera is an uncertain one to be sure, but it is the closest us women will ever get to enjoying the lives that men lead and I wouldn't give that up for any amount of security.

Shocked? You shouldn't be. For every day you spend turning your noses up at us for not being of a certain class, there is another day that we spend enjoying life to it's fullest.

So, remember that next time you and your friends are mocking us on the way to the temple.

Love,
Your Friendly Neighborhood Hetaera.