Archeanassa

Who is Archeanassa?

Archeanassa or Archaeanassa, a native of Colophon, was a hetaera or courtesan living in Athens in the late 5th century BC. According to biographical sources about Plato, the philosopher as a young man was deeply in love with Archeanassa and addressed a four-line epigram to her. The poem is quoted in full by Diogenes Laertius in his biography of Plato and by Athenaeus in a survey of famous courtesans. The same poem is also found, in almost identical form, in the Byzantine compilation called Anthologia Palatina. In that source, although it is still addressed to Archeanassa, its authorship is attributed not to Plato but to Asclepiades. Modern scholars tend to accept the attribution to Plato as valid.