ABSTRACT
If a court scene is always teeming with allegory, one of the most legendary trials in antiquity – the trial of Phyrne 1 – would be an allegory of law itself. With it, an autonomous order of law was formed, which ever since has had the reputation of being as hostile to women as it is to images. On stage is a superb cast featuring a hetaera, a defence counsel and a sculptor. Phryne, the hetaera, is one of the megalomisthoi, the highest paid of whores, who along with Lais and Aspasia is ranked among Athen’s most famous women. Her name, which means toad (phrýne), was not related to her looks but given to her rather, according to frequent reports, as a result of her big mouth. 2 Here already we have evidence of the kind of knowledge lost on a posterity obsessed with the visual, which associates a toad with ugliness and an appearance commonly considered to be disgusting, rather than thinking of the sounds these animals make. ‘The frog’s mating call and in particular that of the toad (phrýne) announces the awakening of spring to the joy of the nymphs and of Pan,’ 3 suggesting as Gerhard Schabert tells us from his wealth of knowledge of ancient cultures ‘the name’s sexual connotation.’ 4 In this respect and from a historical point of view the trial of Phryne was very successful, indeed it thoroughly banished the world of Pan and the nymphs from knowledge.
