Archidike

Who is Archidike?

Archidike was a celebrated hetaera of Naucratis in Egypt. Her fame spread throughout Greece, and was recorded by Herodotus and Claudius Aelianus. Herodotus claims that Archidike "became a notorious subject of song throughout Greece", and she is one of only two hetaera mentioned by name in Herodotus's discussion of the occupation.

She was reputed to be arrogant and avaricious, and to have charged high prices for her favors. One anecdote told about Archidike is when a young Egyptian became infatuated with her, offering her all his possessions for a night of love. When Archidike refused the offer, the lover asked Venus to give him in dream what Archidike had refused in reality. The prayer was answered, but Archidike heard of it, and had the young man arrested and taken before the judges to make him pay for the voluptuous dream. The judges decided that Archidike should, in turn, pray to Venus for a dream of silver in repayment for a fictitious lover.