The Mimes of the Courtesans

‘The Mimes of the Courtesans’ features a series of dialogues between two courtesans or a courtesan and another, discussing love and sex and the relationship between lovers.

Living at the height of the Roman Empire, Lucian wrote these short dialogues of working girls competing for clients, dishing gossip and candid tips of the trade, men trying to keep their girls' attention with expensive gifts. It also portrays the dark side of the hetaera's life: out-of-control parties, blowhard men, and putting up with rough treatment by clients. This translation was published during the 1920s. The identity of the translator is only known by the initials 'A.L.H.' on the Translator's Foreword page.