Lais of Hyccara

Lais of Hyccara (died 340 BC) was a courtesan of Ancient Greece. She was probably born in Hyccara, Sicily (in the place of modern Carini) and died in Thessaly. Another hetaira (courtesan) with the same name was Lais of Corinth. Since ancient authors in their (usually indirect) accounts often confuse them or do not indicate which they refer to, the two are inextricably linked.

There are a number of anecdotes about her. For example, it was said Demosthenes was willing to pay 1,000 Greek drachmas for a night with her, but she raised her price to 10,000 drachmas after viewing him, while she gave herself to Diogenes for nothing.

She was the daughter of Timandra (Damasandra acc. to Athenaeus). She was a contemporary and a rival of Phryne. She fell in love with a Thessalian named Hippostratus or Hippolochus, who brought her to Thessaly. It is said that Thessalian women out of jealousy lured her into the temple of Aphrodite and stoned her to death. She was buried on the banks of Peneus.

Carini

Carini (Latin:Hyccara or Hyccarum) is a town and comune in the Province of Palermo, Sicily, 21 kilometres (13 mi) by rail west-northwest of Palermo. It has a population of 37,752.

On the coast are some ruins of the ancient Hyccara, the only Sican settlement (probably a fishing village) on the coast. It was stormed and taken by the Athenians in 415 BC, and the inhabitants, among them the famous courtesan Lais, sold as slaves. At La Grazia Christian catacombs have been found (Not. degli Scavi, 1899, 362).

The first historical mention of a bishop of the see is in two letters of Pope Gregory the Great, in the 6th century, one addressed to Bonifacius of Reggio Calabria, the other to Barbarus of Carini. But many signs, including local catacombs, show that a Christian community existed at Carini from the 3rd century. A lead seal bears the name of a Felix, bishop of this see. One of Gregory the Great's letters show that the diocese was incorporated into that of Reggio Calabria in September 595, but by 602 it was again under its own bishop. A Bishop John of the see took part in a synod at Rome in 649. The last testimony to its existence dates from the 8th century, and the Muslim conquest of Sicily, which began in 827, brought it to an end as a residential bishopric. As a result, Carini/Hyccara/Hyccarum is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.

Lais

Lais or Laïs may refer to one of the following:

Places

People

Other

Breton lai

A Breton lai, also known as a narrative lay or simply a lay, is a form of medieval French and English romance literature. Lais are short (typically 600–1000 lines), rhymed tales of love and chivalry, often involving supernatural and fairy-world Celtic motifs. The word "lay" or “lai” is thought to be derived from the Old High German and/or Old Middle German leich, which means play, melody, or song, or as suggested by Jack Zipes in The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales, the Irish word laid (song).<ref "Z62>Zipes, 62</ref>

Zipes writes that Arthurian legends may have been brought from Wales, Cornwall and Ireland to Brittany; on the continent the songs were performed in various places by harpists, minstrels, storytellers. Zipes reports the earliest recorded lay is Robert Biker's Lai du Cor, dating to the mid- to late-12th century.

The earliest of the Breton lais to survive is probably The Lais of Marie de France, thought to have been composed in the 1170s by Marie de France, a French poet writing in England at Henry II's court between the late 12th and early 13th centuries. From descriptions in Marie's lais, and in several anonymous Old French lais of the 13th century, we know of earlier lais of Celtic origin, perhaps more lyrical in style, sung by Breton minstrels. It is believed that these Breton lyrical lais, none of which has survived, were introduced by a summary narrative setting the scene for a song, and that these summaries became the basis for the narrative lais.

Laiuse

Laiuse (German: Lais) is a small borough (alevik) in Estonia. It is located in Jõgeva County and is a part of Jõgeva Parish. As of 2011 Census, the settlement's population was 371.

Laiuse Middle School is one of the oldest in Estonia, being established in 1822. Laiuse is the location of the medieval Laiuse church. The church was first mentioned in 1319. In the church yard, there's an old lime tree, which was supposedly planted there by king Charles XII of Sweden during his visit in 1701.

See also

References