Gnathaena

This article is about a 4th century Greek woman. For the genus of longhorn beetles, see Gnathoenia.
This painting, on the inside of a kylix, depicts a hetaira playing kottabos, a drinking game played at symposia in which the participants flicked the dregs of their wine at a target.

Gnathaena (Ancient Greek: Γνάθαινα) was an Athenian hetaira (plural: hetairai), a class of ancient Greek prostitutes who were companions to wealthy men.[1] Though there is no source for either her date of birth or date of death, Gnathaena is known to have lived during the 4th century BCE due to her affiliations with various men of the era. Her most notable lover was Diphilus, an Athenian New Comedy playwright. According to Athenaeus, Gnathaena was famous for her lavish parties and witty repartee, and even wrote a treatise on proper conduct at her symposiums entitled, "Rules for Dining in Company".[2]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Burton, Joan (1998). "Women's Commensality in the Ancient Greek World". Greece & Rome. 45 (2): 143–165. doi:10.1017/S0017383500033659. JSTOR 642980.