A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Phryne
PHRYNE,
A Grecian courtezan, flourished at Athens, about B.C. 328. Society alone can discover the charms of the understanding, and the virtuous women of ancient Greece were excluded from society. The houses of the courtezans, on the contrary, were frequented by the poets, statesmen, philosophers, and artists of Athens, and became schools of eloquence. Phryne was one of the most distinguished of that class of women. She served as a model for Praxiteles, and a subject for Apelles, and was represented by both as Venus. Her statue in gold was placed between those of two kings at Delphi. She offered to rebuild at her own expense the walls of Thebes, if she might be allowed to inscribe on them, "Alexander destroyed Thebes, Phryne rebuilt it." She was born in Thespis, in Boeotia. She was accused of disbelief in the gods, but Hyperides obtained her acquittal by exposing her charms to the venerable judges of the Helica.
But though all these honours and favours were bestowed on Phryne, she was not allowed to rebuild the walls of Thebes; and this shows there still remained in the hearts of those old Greeks, corrupted as they were, the sentiment of respect for female virtue; and also a fear of degradation if they permitted such a woman to immortalize her name.