{"product_id":"kallos","title":"Kallos","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eFinest quality Hellenistic head bead, 3rd - 1st century BC, drilled and sculpted in vivid banded agate.  The head is wearing the youthful hetaira mask of Greek comedy.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe delicate carving carefully depicts the features of a wooden mask - wide face, pronounced chin and brow, large almond-shaped eyes for the wearer to see through.  The sensuous lips and elegant nose depict youthful female beauty.  There is a fillet band simply marked at the top of the brow and a hairnet (kekryphalos) on the reverse - indicators of the \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cem\u003ehetairidion hōraion\u003c\/em\u003e according to Julius Pollux, the 2nd century Greek scholar.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePollux catalogued 44 distinct theatrical masks.  The bead corresponds to Pollux Type 39. \u003cem\u003eHōraion\u003c\/em\u003e carries the sense of being in one's youthful bloom or prime.  \u003cem\u003eHetairidion\u003c\/em\u003e means \"little companion\" or \"little courtesan\", referring to the highly educated class of independent female companions in antiquity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eShe occupied a boundary that respectable Athenian women normally did not: she could talk freely and debate with men, move through male social space, be an object of desire, negotiate relationships and money, and exercise a degree of agency unavailable to the conventional citizen daughter or wife.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eHetaira were trained in music, dance, poetry and philosophy and could attend the \u003cem\u003eSymposium\u003c\/em\u003e.  \"\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eUsually living fashionably alone\", notes the Encyclopedia Britannica, \"the hetairai enjoyed an enviable and respected position of wealth.  Generally foreigners...they were \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003enoted for their outstanding physical and cultural accomplishments\".\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis extraordinary micro-sculpture, just 19mm tall, will be set in a high jewellery lapel pin.  Contact us to enquire.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"KAPISTREE","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53492431618384,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0785\/8913\/3136\/files\/13712_921f02ea-03aa-4423-b100-c72a131d66bc.jpg?v=1788017083","url":"https:\/\/www.kapistree.com\/products\/kallos","provider":"KAPISTREE","version":"1.0","type":"link"}