Prostitution in The Ancient World
by A lecture that talks about the roots of prostitution in ancient society.
Key Questions:
What is Prostitution?
What are the Roots of Prostitution?
How were prostitutions viewed?
What Primary Sources on prostitution can be used?
How did it evolved from Greece to Rome?
What are Brothels?
What is Prostitution? (Introduction)
Good morning class and welcome to another exciting lecture in HST210. I know you are all excited and probably can’t contain yourselves at the moment. For all of you sleepers, I strongly suggest you pick your heads and pens right up right now because today will be a lecture you never forget. Today, we will be memorizing the Greek alphabet and you will have a short quiz at the end of the lecture. Fortunately, I am just kidding. What we will really be learning about is Prostitution in the Ancient World. Now, don’t get too excited we have not even begun yet. I will first give you a brief overview of prostitution, starting from its roots. As we move along, you will be put in the shoes of a prostitute to understand why they resorted to prostitution, how they conducted business, and how they were viewed by the societies they lived in. As you all have learned from this course, it is very important for history students to evaluate primary sources and think critically about them. I have located two primary sources on prostitution that will be referenced to throughout the lecture. We will discuss the findings in these primary sources throughout the lecture. Next, we will compare and contrast prostitution in different ancient civilizations to understand the inner workings, and finally, we will discuss brothels and how they have been found. Please follow the PowerPoint. I have provided pictures that may spark your curiosity —as you all know I am fascinated by art from antiquity and it would be a disservice to the course not to share it with all of you. As I move forward in the lecture, I urge you to keep an open mind and try to put yourselves in the shoes of a prostitute back in ancient times. By doing this, you will understand how the culture of prostitution evolved throughout the ages and will leave this auditorium with a new view on prostitution.
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