The Prostitute and Her Headdress

This book documents the complex headdress iconography§of Attic Red-figure vase-painting dated ca. 550-450§BCE. The findings demonstrate that more depictions of§prostitutes than wives, or any other female figures,§were portrayed wearing the mitra (turban), sakkos§(hair-sack) and kekryphalos (hair-net). The study,§based on 230 fully catalogued and thoroughly analyzed§images, leads to a conclusion that these headdresses§were prostitutes common attributes and social§markers. The study further shows that, besides§wearing them, the prostitutes were also involved in§manufacturing the textiles and producing the§headdresses on small sprang hand frames chosen for§their practicality, convenience and low cost. The§book provides much-needed data for identifying§prostitutes, as their personal histories were not§clearly documented; still today, not much is known§about these women. The aim of this study is to offer§an answer to this problem. This work represents a§valuable contribution to the existing scholarship§with hope that it will lead to further understanding§of the history of prostitution as well as ancient§women in general.