Women, inflamed by his words, gave up their jewels and luxurious apparel, and young men married courtesans in the hope of reclaiming them.
The same idea is expressed in the statement (quoted by Athenaeus, 569 d, from Nicander of Colophon) that after Solon's time courtesans were put under the protection of Aphrodite Pandemos.
Even to be seen in public with one of the great courtesans was a much-envied achievement.
There were also public slaves; of these some belonged to temples, to which they were presented as offerings, amongst them being the courtesans who acted as hieroduli at Corinth and at Eryx in Sicily; others were appropriated to the service of the magistrates or to public works; there were at Athens 1200 Scythian archers for the police of the city; slaves served, too, in the fleets, and were employed in the armies, - commonly as workmen, and exceptionally as soldiers.
The life of the virtuous Japanese woman being essentially uneventful, these romancists not unnaturally sought their female types among dancing-girls and courtesans.