The film is based on the trial of the ancient Greek courtesan Phryne.[3] In the film a young woman, Afra, escapes imprisonment in Thebes before being brought to Athens as a slave; there she takes on the name Frine and becomes a courtesan. She falls in love with the orator Iperide. After Frine takes on the role of a goddess at the Eleusinian Mysteries she is charged with impiety; at the trial Iperide saves Frine.[4]
