Phryne
4th-century BC Greek courtesan
Phryne (Ancient Greek: Φρύνη, before 370 – after 316 BC) was an ancient Greek hetaira (courtesan). Born Mnesarete, she was from Thespiae in Boeotia, but seems to have lived most of her life in Athens. She apparently grew up poor, but became one of the richest women in Greece.
Little is known for certain about Phryne's life. She is best known for her trial for impiety, in which she was defended by the orator Hypereides. According to legend, she was acquitted after baring her breasts to the jury, though the historicity of this episode is doubtful. She also modelled for the artists Apelles and Praxiteles: the latter's Aphrodite of Knidos was said to have been based on her.
Phryne was largely ignored during the Renaissance, but artistic interest in her began to grow from the end of the eighteenth century. Her trial was depicted by Jean-Léon Gérôme in the 1861 painting Phryne Before the Areopagus, which influenced many subsequent depictions of her, and according to Laura McClure made her an "international cultural icon". As well as being depicted in the visual arts, since the nineteenth century she has also appeared in literature, in theatre, and on film.
The public source identifies “Phryne” as 4th-century BC Greek courtesan. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Phryne, 4th-century and Greek.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q232790. VIAF identifies the subject as 72314569. The Library of Congress control number is n2001153414. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1861.
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This entry incorporates text from “Phryne” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.