In ancient Greek society there was a “courtesan” named Phryne (4th century BC) who was indeed a beauty. She had been accused by an ex-lover of profaning the sacred Eleusinian mysteries, which was a capital offense.
In Greek society of that time, exceptional beauty was a sign of favor from the gods and the powers of the time took the idea that awesome beauty indicated goodness with a great seriousness.
Phryne was taken before the court and when it seemed that the court would not be swayed to acquit her, her defender, the great orator Hypereides tore open her clothes and exposed her breasts to the jurors in a plea for mercy.
This defense proved to be extremely effective as Phryne appeared to be the earthly surrogate of the goddess Aphrodite and the judges were struck with superstitious fear of her power and acquitted her of her crimes.
The case essentially was based on the argument “How could I possibly be guilty of blasphemy if the gods have given me this exceptional body?”
It was a precursor of the ‘OJ’ defense:
“If these tits are legit, you must acquit.”
