Rhodopis ( el, Ῥοδῶπις, real name possibly Doricha) or Rodopis was a celebrated 6th-century BCE

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

hetaera Hetaira (plural hetairai (), also hetaera (plural hetaerae ), ( grc, ἑταίρα, "companion", pl. , la, hetaera, pl. ) was a type of prostitute in ancient Greece, who served as an artist, entertainer and conversationalist in addition to pro ...

, of

Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied t ...

origin.William Smith, ed.
Rhodopis
in the ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1870), vol. 1, p. 268. She is one of only two hetaerae mentioned by name in

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...

' discussion of the profession (the other is the somewhat later Archidike). A Kauffman Esop and Rodope (cropped)

Slavery

According to Herodotus, she was a fellow-

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

of the fable teller

Aesop Aesop ( or ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE) was a Greek fabulist and storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence remains unclear and no writings by him survive, numerous tales cre ...

, with whom in one version of her story she had a secret love affair; both of them belonged to Iadmon of

Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate ...

. She afterwards became the property of Xanthes, another Samian, who took her to

Naucratis Naucratis or Naukratis (Ancient Greek: , "Naval Command"; Egyptian: , , , Coptic: ) was a city and trading-post in ancient Egypt, located on the Canopic (western-most) branch of the Nile river, south-east of the Mediterranean sea and the city o ...

in Egypt, during the reign of

Amasis II Amasis II ( grc, Ἄμασις ; phn, 𐤇𐤌𐤎 ''ḤMS'') or Ahmose II was a pharaoh (reigned 570526 BCE) of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt, the successor of Apries at Sais. He was the last great ruler of Egypt before the Persian conquest ...

, where she met Charaxus, brother of the poet

Sappho Sappho (; el, Σαπφώ ''Sapphō'' ; Aeolic Greek ''Psápphō''; c. 630 – c. 570 BC) was an Archaic Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her Greek lyric, lyric poetry, written to be sung while ...

, who had gone to Naucratis as a merchant. Charaxus fell in love with her, and ransomed her from slavery with a large sum of money, so that henceforth all the money she made from her profession would be her own. Sappho later wrote a poem accusing Rhodopis of robbing Charaxus of his property. She also ridiculed her brother in one of her poems for getting himself entangled with Rhodopis.

After liberation

Rhodopis continued to live at Naucratis after her liberation from slavery, and

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more r ...

d a tenth part of her income to the temple at Delphi. She converted this tithe into large iron spits for cooking oxen, and sent these to

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The oracle ...

: "these lie in a heap to this day, behind the altar set up by the Chians and in front of the shrine itself." where a large number of ten iron spits were dedicated in her name; these spits were seen by Herodotus.

Tales and legends

Some 400 years after Herodotus,

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...

stated that Sappho called Rhodopis "Doricha". And 200 years after Strabo,

Athenaeus Athenaeus of Naucratis (; grc, Ἀθήναιος ὁ Nαυκρατίτης or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; la, Athenaeus Naucratita) was a Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourishing about the end of th ...

maintained that Herodotus had confused two separate women. As "rhodopis" means "rosy cheeks", it was probably a professional pseudonym, but it is unclear whether "Doricha" was her real name. It was the Hellenistic biographical tradition associated with

Posidippus Poseidippus or Posidippus ( grc, Ποσείδιππος, Poseidippos or grc, Ποσίδιππος, Posidippos, horse of Poseidon) is a Greek theophoric name. It may refer to a number of individuals from classical antiquity, including: * Poseidipp ...

that followed the notion that Rodopis and Doricha were one individual. There was a tale current in Greece that Rhodopis caused the construction of the third pyramid. Herodotus takes great pains to show the absurdity of the story, but it persisted and is related by

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...

as an unquestioned fact. A variant of this story is told by both

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...

and Strabo, in which the pyramid was built by lovers of Rhodopis to be her tomb. The origin of this tale, which is unquestionably false, has been explained with great probability by Georg Zoega and

Christian Charles Josias Bunsen Christian Charles or Karl Josias von Bunsen (25 August 1791 – 28 November 1860), also known as , was a German diplomat and scholar. Life Early life Bunsen was born at Korbach, an old town in the German principality of Waldeck. His fath ...

. In consequence of the name Rhodopis, she was confounded with

Nitocris Nitocris ( el, Νίτωκρις) possibly was the last pharaoh of ancient Egypt's Sixth Dynasty. Her name is found in Herodotus' ''Histories'' (430BC) and in writings by the 3rd-century BC Manetho, but her historicity has been questioned. If she ...

, the

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

queen, and the heroine of many an Egyptian legend, who was said by

Julius Africanus Sextus Julius Africanus (c. 160 – c. 240; Greek: Σέξτος Ἰούλιος ὁ Ἀφρικανός or ὁ Λίβυς) was a Christian traveler and historian of the late second and early third centuries. He is important chiefly because o ...

and

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...

to have built the third pyramid. Another tale about Rhodopis related by Strabo and

Aelian Aelian or Aelianus may refer to: * Aelianus Tacticus, Greek military writer of the 2nd century, who lived in Rome * Casperius Aelianus, Praetorian Prefect, executed by Trajan * Claudius Aelianus, Roman writer, teacher and historian of the 3rd centu ...

makes her a queen of Egypt, and thus renders the supposition of her being the same as Nitocris still more probable. It is said that as Rhodopis was one day bathing at Naucratis, an eagle took up one of her sandals, flew away with it, and dropped it in the lap of the Egyptian king, as he was administering justice at

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

. Struck by the strange occurrence and the beauty of the sandal, he did not rest till he had found the fair owner of the beautiful sandal, and as soon as he had discovered her made her his queen. This is the

Rhodopis "Rhodopis" ( grc-gre, Ῥοδῶπις ) is an ancient tale about a Greek slave girl who marries the king of Egypt. The story was first recorded by the Greek historian Strabo in the late first century BC or early first century AD and is considere ...

story, famed for being the earliest

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

story. Rhodopis was also linked to

Helen of Troy Helen of Troy, Helen, Helena, (Ancient Greek: Ἑλένη ''Helénē'', ) also known as beautiful Helen, Helen of Argos, or Helen of Sparta, was a figure in Greek mythology said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world. She was believe ...

not only because of thematic similarities of their stories but also due to the epithet that Herodotus used for her.

References

{{SmithDGRBM, title=The History and Amours of Rhodopi, ref=none Hetairai 6th-century BC Greek people 6th-century BC Greek women Thracian women Ancient Thracian Greeks Year of birth unknown Ancient Greek slaves and freedmen Naucratians el:Ροδώπις it:Rodopi (schiava)