The Myth of Sacred Prostitution in Antiquity

383 Pages·2008·2.05 MB·English

by  Stephanie Lynn Budin

THE MYTH OF SACRED PROSTITUTION IN ANTIQUITY
In this study, Stephanie Lynn Budin demonstrates that sacred prostitution,
thesaleofaperson’sbodyforsexinwhichsomeorallofthemoneyearned
wasdevotedtoadeityoratemple,didnotexistintheancientworld.Recon-
sideringtheevidencefromtheancientNearEast,theGreco-Romantexts,
andtheearlyChristianauthors,Budinshowsthatthemajorityofsourcesthat
havetraditionallybeenunderstoodaspertainingtosacredprostitutionactu-
ally have nothing to do with this institution. The few texts that are usually
invokedonthissubjectare,moreover,terriblymisunderstood.Furthermore,
contrarytomanycurrenthypotheses,thecreationofthemythofsacredpros-
titution has nothing to do with notions of accusation or the construction
of a decadent, Oriental “Other.” Instead, the myth has come into being as
a result of more than 2,000 years of misinterpretations, false assumptions,
and faulty methodology. The study of sacred prostitution is, effectively, a
historiographicalreckoning.
StephanieLynnBudinreceivedherPh.D.inAncientHistoryfromtheUni-
versityofPennsylvaniawithconcentrationsinGreeceandtheancientNear
East.SheistheauthorofTheOriginofAphrodite(2003)andnumerousarti-
clesonancientreligionandiconography.ShehasdeliveredpapersinAthens,
Dublin,Jerusalem,London,Nicosia,Oldenburg,andStockholm,aswellas
invariouscitiesthroughouttheUnitedStates.

The Myth of Sacred
Prostitution in
Antiquity
STEPHANIE LYNN BUDIN
CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITYPRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB28RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
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© Stephanie Lynn Budin 2008
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without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2007
ISBN-13 978-0-511-39317-4 eBook (EBL)
ISBN-13 978-0-521-88090-9 hardback
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guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
In Loving Memory of A. John Graham
(cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:2)(cid:4)(cid:5)(cid:6)(cid:7)(cid:8)(cid:9)(cid:10)(cid:6)(cid:7)(cid:11)(cid:12)(cid:13)(cid:8)(cid:9)(cid:10)

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments page ix
Abbreviations xi
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2. TheAncientNearEasternData . . . 14
3. The So-Called “Evidence” . . . . . 48
4. Herodotos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
5. In the Footsteps of Herodotos:
Lucian and “Jeremiah” . . . . . . . . 93
6. Pindar Fragment 122 . . . . . . . . . 112
7. Strabo, Confused and
Misunderstood. . . . . . . . . . . . . .153
8. Klearkhos, Justinus, and
Valerius Maximus . . . . . . . . . . . 210
9. Archaeological “Evidence”
from Italy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .247
10. The Early Christian Rhetoric. . .260
11. Last Myths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .287
Bibliography 337
Index 357
Index Locorum 363
vii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Anumberofpeoplehelpedme,throughencouragement,feedback,and
suggestions,tomakethisbookbetter.TothemIamtrulygrateful.Many
thanksgoouttoJuliaAssante,T.CoreyBrennan,MichaelFlower,Daniel
A. Foxvog, David Greenberg, Thomas Harrison, Victor Hurowitz,
Kimberly Huth, Thomas McGinn, Aislinn Melchior, Rosaria Munson,
Beatrice Rehl, James Rushing, Johanna Stuckey, Jean MacIntosh Turfa,
andtheincrediblyhelpfulstaffattheCenterforAdvancedJudaicStudies
in Philadelphia. My thanks also go to everyone at the Summer Session
Office,RutgersCamden,fortime,compassion,andofficesupplies.Iam,
of course, solely responsible for whatever is erroneous in the pages that
follow.
AdditionalthanksgotoSifuRommieRevellforalwaysprovidingme
withsomethingtopunchduringstressfultimes,andfornevergivingup
on the rather hopeless endeavor of telling me to relax.
Finally,IsendallgratitudeandlovetomyhusbandPaulC.Butler,an
eternal source of support and drawings. The images in Figures 7.1 and
7.2arebyhim.Heisvery,verytiredofhearingaboutsacredprostitution.
ix