 The Christian writers Justin Martyr, Tatian, and Clement of Alexandria deplore the writings attributed to Philaenis as depraved and immoral.The fourth-century AD Pseudo-Lucianic dialogue "Erōtes" references Philaenis using a strap-on dildo to have sex with women.It was through these later allusions that Philaenis was best known for most of modernity and she is referenced in works by the English authors Thomas Heywood and John Donne, who both characterized her as a sexual deviant.