Lais of Hyccara

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Lais of Hyccara (d. 340 BCE) was a legendary prostitute or courtesan of Ancient Greece. She was probably born in Hyccara, Sicily (in the place of modern Carini) and died in Thessalia. Another hetaera (an older one) with the same name was Lais of Corinth. Since ancient authors in their (usually indirect) accounts often confuse them or do not indicate which they refer to, the two are pretty much confused.

She was the daughter of Timandra (Damasandra acc. to Athenaeus). She was a contemporary and a rival of Phryne. She fell in love with a Thessalian named Hippostratus or Hippolochus, who brought her to Thessaly. It is said that Thessalian women out of jealousy lured her into the temple of Aphrodite and stoned her to death. She was buried on the banks of Peneus.

[edit] Reference

• William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, 1870. [1]