#courtesans

history lessons.

“Part of the allure of the courtesan, I think, is that she has always been an ambiguous figure. She is not a mere prostitute, although she is unequivocally a ‘professional’ woman who accepts money in return for sexual favours. […] Neither is she a mistress, who usually considers herself the lover of just one man […]. A courtesan always chose her patrons, very often for her own pleasure as well as theirs. Her gifts - of company and conversation as well as of erotic pleasure - were only ever bestowed upon a favoured few, who paid fabulous - sometimes ruinous - sums for them.”