Hetaerism
Encyclopedia
Hetaerism or hetairism can mean:
- A term employed by 19th century anthropologists (such as Johann Jakob BachofenJohann Jakob BachofenJohann Jakob Bachofen was a Swiss antiquarian, jurist and anthropologist, professor for Roman law at the University of Basel from 1841 to 1845....
) to indicate a theoretical early state of human society characterized by the absence of the institution of marriageMarriageMarriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
in any form. Women were the common property of their tribe, and the children never knew their fathers. Sometimes known as "primitive promiscuity". - A term used to describe ancient GreekAncient GreeceAncient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
customs according to which a man's wife was forbidden to accompany him to many public events, including the banquets or symposiaSymposiumIn ancient Greece, the symposium was a drinking party. Literary works that describe or take place at a symposium include two Socratic dialogues, Plato's Symposium and Xenophon's Symposium, as well as a number of Greek poems such as the elegies of Theognis of Megara...
which made up such a large part of Greek social life. At such occasions, men sought out the company of courtesanCourtesanA courtesan was originally a female courtier, which means a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person.In feudal society, the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...
s or HetaeraHetaeraIn ancient Greece, hetaerae were courtesans, that is to say, highly educated, sophisticated companions...
e instead.