Het overschrijven van idealen

Gender en beeldvorming rond prostitutie in het klassieke Athene

Samenvatting

This article investigates prostitution in Classical Athens as a social practice deeply influenced by gender ideals. Using a comparative approach, it examines how male and female prostitutes were represented and discussed in legal speeches, literary texts, and iconography. The article situates prostitution within broader Athenian gender ideals that shaped expectations of proper behaviour for men and women. This article focuses on how gender ideals influenced and reflected public perceptions and representations of prostitutes, as well as the blurred boundaries between pederasty and male prostitution. Male and female prostitution are placed side by side, as well as held next to the cultural ideals for their gender. In doing so, new aspects of prostitution in the public eye are revealed.