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Sacred prostitution, also known as temple or cult prostitution, involved various activities in ancient times, many of which that occurred in Greece were in some way related to the Greek Goddess Aphrodite and the Greek city of Corinth.
The Temple of Aphrodite at Acrocorinth is above all famous for the unveriefied claims of the temple prostitution of courtesans, which were alleged to be dedicated to the service of the temple, and contributed to the attraction of visitors to the city of Corinth. The alleged temple prostitution is famous by the descriptions made by Strabo:
The poet acknowledged that the slaves would serve Aphrodite as sacred prostitutes within her temple at Corinth. [50] Another temple of Aphrodite was named Aphrodite Melainis, located near the city gates in an area known as “Craneion”. It is the resting place of Lais, who was a famous prostitute in Greek history.
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Photos GettyArchaeologists in Western Turkey have announced that they discovered a sixth century B.C. temple dedicated to the ancient Greek goddess Aphrodite ...
In classical times and earlier, Corinth had a temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, employing some thousand hetairas (temple prostitutes) (see also Temple prostitution in Corinth). The city was renowned for these temple prostitutes, who served the wealthy merchants and the powerful officials who frequented the city.
Around the year 2 BC, Strabo (VIII,6,20) in his geographic/historical description of the town of Corinth wrote some remarks concerning female temple servants in the temple of Aphrodite in Corinth, which perhaps should be dated somewhere in the period 700–400 BC: [18]
Procuring, however, was severely forbidden. In Cyprus (Paphus) and in Corinth, a type of religious prostitution was practiced where the temple counted more than a thousand prostitutes (hierodules, Gr: ιερόδουλες), according to Strabo.
The city of Corinth was renowned throughout the ancient world for its many hetairai, [80] who had a widespread reputation for being among the most skilled, but also the most expensive, prostitutes in the Greek world. [80] Corinth also had a major temple to Aphrodite located on the Acrocorinth [80] and was one of the main centers of her cult. [80]