To browse Academia. This article looks at the current state of sacred prostitution studies in both ancient Near Eastern and Classical Studies through the review of two books published in Both books reveal that the current trend is to dismiss the existence of sacred prostitution in antiquity, one by attempting not entirely successfully to agree with that assessment, and one by condemning that dismissal altogether. This essay briefly discusses the Hieros Gamos rites, specifically focusing on Cyprus and it's unique ability to unite both Greek and Sumerian rites in it's initiation ceremonies.
Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. Discourses on prostitution generally conceive the practice as an act by which a female human being engages in indiscriminate sexual relations with someone who is not her spouse with a view to obtaining money, favour or other material gratifications.
This kind of universal assertion creates the impression that major differences do not really exist between prostitution as professional role of the feminine who earned her livelihood through sex-wok and prostitution which involved other forms of multiple sexual practices such as concubinage, courtesanship and sacred sex, prevalent among the various cultures of the world. This paper reexamines prostitution as a well-accepted institution in ancient Greek society.
It thematically focuses on the various forms of sex-work and prostitutes such as the common prostitutes pornai , concubines pallakai and courtesans hetaerae. It also bears special light on the sexual practice known as sacred or temple prostitution. Sacred prostitution is identified as sexual activity or intercourse, performed in the context of religious worship or devotional rites.
The paper further discusses the social and economic benefits that sex-work generally offered in antiquity and concludes that prostitutes, including the sacred harlot, constituted a significant specie, that positively improved the economic status of their cities and considerably conduced to Greece, the unique social grandeur which distinguished her as the 'beacon of tower of the world'.
