countrymen, stood nobly forth,
Praying to Venus, the all-powerful goddess;
Nor was the queen of beauty willing ever
To leave the citadel of Greece to fall
Beneath the arrows of the unwarlike Persians."

Private individuals frequently vowed, upon the fortunate issue of some
undertaking, to dedicate to the goddess of love a certain number of
hetaerae. These votaries of Aphrodite were called _hierodulae_, or temple
attendants. Pindar in his immortal verses thus describes them:

"O hospitable damsels, fairest train
Of soft Persuasion,--
Ornament of the wealthy Corinth,
Bearing in willing hands the golden drops
That from the frankincense distil, and flying
To the fair mother of the Loves,
Who dwelleth in the sky,
The lovely Venus,--you do bring to us
Comfort and hope in danger, that we may
Hereafter, in the delicate beds of Love,
Reap the long-wished-for fruits of joy
Lovely and necessary to all mortal men."

Strabo states that there were over a thousand _hierodulae_ in the Corinth
of his day. Because of the enormous number of such damsels and of the
respect which was accorded them, Corinth became the most noted hetaera
city. Here dwelt the wealthiest and most beautiful hetaerae. As the most
important commercial centre of Greece, the city was the abiding place of
wealthy merchants and travellers; these fell victims to the voluptuous
and licentious life of the place, and the vast fortunes accumulated by
the professional courtesans were acquired by the ruin of many a
merchant. The expression "Corinthian maiden" denoted the acme of
voluptuousness, and to "Corinthianize" became synonymous with leading
the most dissolute life.

In other prominent commercial centres of Hellas and of the Greek
colonies hetairism also flourished. Piraeus, the harbor of Athens, had
its demi-monde quarter, and the number of courtesans in Athens and its
harbor town was only surpassed by that of Corinth.

The inland cities were much more moral in this regard. From Sparta, in
its best days, hetaerae were rigidly excluded. Plutarch records a saying
of the Spartans, that when Aphrodite passed over the Eurotas River she
put off her gewgaws and female ornaments, and for the sake of Lycurgus
armed herself with shield and spear. This _Venus armata_ of the
Spartans, as well as their sturdy morals, forbade the presence of the
seductive strangers in their mi