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<blockquote data-quote="Dr. Strangemonkey" data-source="post: 660992" data-attributes="member: 6533">Story with HerodotusThis thread actually has me reading the entirety of Herodotus for the first time, previously only read sections for fun and profit, and he prefaces the passage I quoted earlier with a description of another interesting custom.Acording to our good Greek friend:&nbsp; The passage describing Temple Prostitution is meant to be read in contrast with an earlier mentioned custom of the same people.The first custom is to gather all the women of a community who marriageable at a certain point in the year and auction them off.&nbsp; The pretty or more desirable women are auctioned first, and a large pot of money is set aside.&nbsp; Money is then drawn from this pool and given to men who want to marry the less eligible women.&nbsp; So the pretty pay the way for the less fortunate.&nbsp; Everyone is given a year in their marriages and if they don't like then the women and the money is returned.&nbsp; Apparently this custom became compromised over the time Herodotus was writing, however, as a result of the Persian conquest.Herodotus says he really admires the above custom, thinks it very wise, but doesn't approve, finds it strange and less admirable, of the custom of Temple Prostitution as he describes it.I'm really mystified as to what Herodotus meant by setting up this comparison except that he felt a lot of sympathy for homely women.He's a great writer, and while he may not have the best source method in the world you could do a lot worse for cultural clarity.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dr. Strangemonkey, post: 660992, member: 6533"] [b]Story with Herodotus[/b] This thread actually has me reading the entirety of Herodotus for the first time, previously only read sections for fun and profit, and he prefaces the passage I quoted earlier with a description of another interesting custom. Acording to our good Greek friend: The passage describing Temple Prostitution is meant to be read in contrast with an earlier mentioned custom of the same people. The first custom is to gather all the women of a community who marriageable at a certain point in the year and auction them off. The pretty or more desirable women are auctioned first, and a large pot of money is set aside. Money is then drawn from this pool and given to men who want to marry the less eligible women. So the pretty pay the way for the less fortunate. Everyone is given a year in their marriages and if they don't like then the women and the money is returned. Apparently this custom became compromised over the time Herodotus was writing, however, as a result of the Persian conquest. Herodotus says he really admires the above custom, thinks it very wise, but doesn't approve, finds it strange and less admirable, of the custom of Temple Prostitution as he describes it. I'm really mystified as to what Herodotus meant by setting up this comparison except that he felt a lot of sympathy for homely women. He's a great writer, and while he may not have the best source method in the world you could do a lot worse for cultural clarity. [/QUOTE]

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