Philaenis
Φιλαινίς
(Φιλαινίς), a Greek poetess of Leucas, appears to have lived at the time of the sophist Polycrates, who was a contemporary of Isocrates.
Works
περὶ Ἀφροδισίων ἀκόλαστον σύγγραμμα
She was the reputed authoress of an obscene poem on love (περὶ Ἀφροδισίων ἀκόλαστον σύγγραμμα), which was classed by Chrysippus along with the Gastronomia of Archestratus. According to Aeschrion, however, Philaenis did not write this poem; and in an epitaph supposed to be placed on the tomb of Philaenis, Aeschrion ascribes the work to Polycrates.
Editions
This epitaph, which is written in choliambic verses, and which has been preserved by Athenaeus, is given in the collection of choliambic poets appended to Lachmann's edition of Babrius, p. 137, Berol. 1845.
Further Information
Athen. 5.220f., viii. p. 335b--e., x. p. 457d.; Plb. 12.13.
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.