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==Biography==
==Biography==


===Early years===
===Life with Nikarete===
Neaira was probably born around the year 400 B.C.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}} Her heredity is uncertain; perhaps she was an abandoned child or from an outlying area of Greece, such as [[Thrace]].{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}
Around 390 BC she was purchased by [[Nikarete of Corinth|Nikarete]], a [[madam]] from [[Corinth]]. Nikarete operated a brothel in Corinth, a city famous in antiquity for its flourishing [[prostitution]] trade, so much so that the ancient Greek [[verb]] ''korinthiazein'', meaning "to fornicate", is derived from the name of the city.


Neaira was probably born in the first decade of the fourth century BC.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kapparis|first1=Konstantinos A.|title="Apollodorus Against Neaira" with commentary|page=44|date=1999|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|location=Berlin|isbn=3-11-016390-X}}</ref>
Nikarete called Neaira and the other prostitutes who worked for her her "daughters" and provided for their training. Through this "parental" relationship Nikarete sought to increase the price her customers had to pay,<ref>[[Pseudo-Demosthenes]] 59.18-19</ref> as it was usual for free women to demand higher prices for their services.<ref>[[Pseudo-Demosthenes]] 59.41</ref> Neaira's work as a prostitute started young, twice being described by Apollodorus as having sex for money before she came of age, though Apollodorus implies that she was not yet a hetaera at this point, describing her as acting "as though she were a courtesan".<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Miner|first1=Jess|title=Courtesan, Concubine, Whore: Apollodorus' Deliberate Use of Terms for Prostitutes|journal=The American Journal of Philology|date=2003|volume=124|issue=1|pages=21-22|accessdate=8 October 2015}}</ref><ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.24</ref> It is possible that the reason Neaera was not yet considered a hetaera was due to her age.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Miner|first1=Jess|title=Courtesan, Concubine, Whore: Apollodorus' Deliberate Use of Terms for Prostitutes|journal=The American Journal of Philology|date=2003|volume=124|issue=1|page=23|accessdate=8 October 2015}}</ref>
Her place of birth is unknown,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Macurdy|first1=Grace|title=Apollodorus and the Speech against Neaera (Pseudo-Dem. LIX)|journal=The American Journal of Philology|date=1942|volume=63|issue=3|page=267}}</ref> and the earliest event in her life that we know of is her purchase when she was a young girl by [[Nikarete of Corinth|Nikarete]].<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.18</ref>
Nikarete trained the girls she purchased to be hetaerae,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Macurdy|first1=Grace|title=Apollodorus and the Speech against Neaera (Pseudo-Dem. LIX)|journal=The American Journal of Philology|date=1942|volume=63|issue=3|page=258}}</ref> calling them her daughters in order to increase the price her customers would pay,<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.19</ref> and lived with them in [[Corinth]].<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.23</ref>


Neaira's work as a prostitute started before she reached puberty.<ref>{{cite book|last=Carey|first=Christopher|title=Apollodorus Against Neaira: Demosthenes 59|location=Warminster|publisher=Aris and Phillips|year=1992|page=3}}</ref> She is twice described by Apollodorus as having sex for money before she came of age, though possibly due to her age he implies that she was not yet a hetaera.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Miner|first1=Jess|title=Courtesan, Concubine, Whore: Apollodorus' Deliberate Use of Terms for Prostitutes|journal=The American Journal of Philology|date=2003|volume=124|issue=1|pages=21-22|accessdate=8 October 2015}}</ref><ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.24</ref> It is during this time that her first known visit to Athens occurred.
Several girls of different ages lived in the brothel besides Neaira: [[Metaneira (hetaera)|Metaneira]], Anteia, Stratola, Aristokleia, Phila, and Isthnias.<ref>[[Pseudo-Demosthenes]] 59.19</ref> Several dramas were dedicated to Anteia at the time,{{citation needed|date=October 2015}} and the poet Philetairos mentions three of Nikaretes's girls (Neaira, Phila, and Isthmias) in his work ''The Huntress''. Customers belonged to the upper class, for the most part. Sometimes they came from beyond Corinth &ndash; the city owed its status as a commercial center to its location on an [[Isthmus of Corinth|isthmus]]. Athenaeus lists various of Neaira's clients, including a poet, Xenoclides, and an actor, Hipparchus.<ref>[[Athenaeus]], ''[[Deipnosophistae]]'' 13.65</ref>
The orator [[Lysias]] was a prominent guest in Nikarete's brothel and a regular customer of Metaneira, who Athenaeus describes as his mistress.<ref>[[Athenaeus]], ''[[Deipnosophistae]]'' 13.65</ref> To show his appreciation to Nikarete and his mistress, Lysias paid for a trip to [[Eleusis]] in the mid-380s, where they were initiated into the [[Eleusinian Mysteries]] at his expense. Lysias and Metaneira were accompanied not only by Nikarete, but also by Neaira.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.22-23</ref> In 378 BC, Neaira again went to the city, this time to the [[Panathenaic Games]], where she was in the company of her madam and regular customer Simos of Thessaly.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.24</ref> As the relationships of Metaneira to Lysias and Neaira to Simos show, Nikarete's hetaerai formed long-term relationships with some of their clients.


The orator [[Lysias]] was a prominent guest in Nikarete's brothel and a regular customer of Metaneira,<ref>[[Athenaeus]], ''[[Deipnosophistae]]'' 13.65</ref> another of Nikarete's girls. In order to reward her for her services, he arranged for her to be initiated into the [[Eleusinian Mysteries]], and funded the journey.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.21</ref> Neaira, at this time about twelve or thirteen,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kapparis|first1=Konstantinos A.|title="Apollodorus Against Neaira" with commentary|page=215|date=1999|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|location=Berlin|isbn=3-11-016390-X}}</ref> and Nikarete accompanied them.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.22</ref> Neaira visited Athens again for the [[Great Panathenaea]] of 378,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kapparis|first1=Konstantinos A.|title="Apollodorus Against Neaira" with commentary|page=217|date=1999|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|location=Berlin|isbn=3-11-016390-X}}</ref> this time accompanying Simus of Thessaly, a young aristocrat.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.24</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Kapparis|first1=Konstantinos A.|title="Apollodorus Against Neaira" with commentary|page=216|date=1999|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|location=Berlin|isbn=3-11-016390-X}}</ref>
===Between brothel and freedom===
The most lucrative years for Nikarete's girls were the years between puberty and their third decade, after which their attractiveness to potential customers began to decline. Therefore, it was probably not inconvenient to Nikarete when Timanoridas of Corinth and Eukrates of [[Lefkada]] purchased Neaira in 376 BC on a journey to [[Athens]]. <ref name="Ps.-Dem. 59.30">Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.30</ref> They were probably both regular customers of Neaira, and found that it would be cheaper in the long term to buy Neaira outright, even if it should cost a large amount.


===Leaving Nikarete and Corinth===
Nikarete demanded no less than 3,000 [[Greek drachma|drachma]] (five to ten times the price of a skilled craftsman slave, and five to six times the annual income of a laborer). Although both were stretched to their financial limits,{{citation needed|date=October 2015}} the transaction was completed. Neaira now had two owners who could deal with her as they pleased.<ref name="Ps.-Dem. 59.30"/> This practice was far from unusual and is cited in several sources of antiquity.{{which|date=October 2015}}


After about one or two years, one of the two (or both) wanted to marry. It was expensive to maintain a hetaera, so a solution had to be found.<!--Seems like editorialising to me: is there a source that this was their motivation?--> The three came to an agreement that Neaira could buy her freedom for 2,000 drachma, if she left Corinth forever. With the help of former customers, and above all a man named Phrynion, she raised the money and bought her freedom. She went with Phrynion to his hometown of Athens, where the couple lived together for some time.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.30–32</ref>
Around 376 BC, Timanoridas of Corinth and Eukrates of Lefkada paid thirty minae to purchase Neaira from Nikarete, at the high end of prices for hetaerae.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kapparis|first1=Konstantinos A.|title="Apollodorus Against Neaira" with commentary|pages=227-228|date=1999|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|location=Berlin|isbn=3-11-016390-X}}</ref> When the men married, they agreed to let Neaira buy her freedom for twenty minae, which, with the aid of gifts and loans from her former customers, she did.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.30-32</ref> As part of this deal, Neaira agreed to no longer work as a prostitute in Corinth, and so left the city for Athens with Phrynion, who had helped her buy her freedom.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.32</ref>


Phrynion was a playboy and regularly included Neaira in his debauchery, as [[Apollodorus of Acharnae|Apollodorus]] describes. He is even said to have had sex with Neaira in public, which in ancient Greece was not the done thing. A banquet with the Athenian general [[Chabrias]] in the late summer of 374 B.C., which celebrated his victory in the [[Pythian Games]], is described in great detail. During the celebration Neaira was said to have drunk herself into unconsciousness, so that in her drunken condition many of the guests and even slaves sexually assaulted her.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.33</ref> Due to her treatment by Phrynion, she left his household and moved to Megara.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes, 59.35</ref>
Neaira was certainly living with Phrynion in Athens by 373 BC, when he took her to a feast given by the general [[Chabrias]] to celebrate his victory in the [[Pythian Games]].<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.33</ref> During this celebration, Apollodorus says, Neaira was sexually assaulted by the guests and slaves of Chabrias while she was drunk and asleep.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.33-34</ref> Due to this and other mistreatment by Phrynion, in 372 BC Neaira left his household and went to Megara, taking with her her clothing and jewellery, two maids, and other of Phrynion's possessions<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.35</ref>


===Life with Stephanus===
===Life with Stephanus===
In 371 the Athenian Stephanus came to Megara and remained as a houseguest of Neaira's, where the two began a relationship, and Stephanus persuaded her to go with him back to Athens.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.37</ref>


In Megara, Neaira continued to work as a hetaera, and in 371 met Stephanus. Stephanus offered to act as her patron if she returned with him to Athens.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.37</ref> Apollodorus claims that with her she brought two sons and a daughter to Athens,<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.38</ref> but modern commentators have largely concluded that the sons in question were in fact those of Stephanus, by an Athenian woman.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Fisher|first1=Nick|title=Review of "Apollodorus Against Neaira: [Demosthenes] 59" edited by Christopher Carey|journal=Greece & Rome|date=1993|volume=40|issue=2|pages=218-220}}</ref> Indeed, Carey points out that one of the sons, at least, was probably a legitimate son of Stephanus, being named after his father,<ref>{{cite book|last=Carey|first=Christopher|title=Apollodorus Against Neaira: Demosthenes 59|location=Warminster|publisher=Aris and Phillips|year=1992}}</ref> and Buckler notes that Apollodorus contradicts himself on whether Neaira's alleged sons were hers by another man, or hers by Stephanus.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Buckler|first1=John|title=Review of "Apollodorus, Son of Pasion" by Jeremy Trevett|journal=The Classical Journal|date=1995|volume=90|issue=3|pages=323-325}}</ref>
Apollodorus says that Neaira brought three children with her: two sons, Proxenos and Ariston, and a daughter, Strybele, later known as Phano, who was, like Neaera, a hetaera. Allegedly, Neaira had to provide for Stephanus after moving to Athens as a hetaera. However these statements aren't very reliable,{{citation needed|date=October 2015}} and Apollodorus doesn't offer proof for them.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.38</ref><ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.119</ref>


Phrynion learnt that Neaira was back in Athens, and attempted to take her back from Stephanus. Stephanus resisted, claiming that as Neaira was a free woman he had no right;<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.40</ref> a claim which Phrynion proceeded to challenge in court, though he was persuaded to settle the case by arbitration instead.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.45</ref> The arbitrators decided that Neaira was indeed free, and that in addition to this she was her own ''kyria'' (mistress):<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.46</ref> and extremely unusual decision in a society where all citizen women, at least, had a kyrios.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Pomeroy|first1=Sarah B.|title=Goddesses, Whores, Wives and Slaves : Women in Classical Antiquity|date=1994|publisher=Pimlico|location=London|isbn=9780712660549|page=62}}</ref> Despite this unusual level of freedom, however, Neaira was compelled to split her time between the two men as they agreed, without any input herself.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.46</ref>
When Phrynion realized Neaira was in Athens, he tried to drag her away from Stephanus's house with the help of several of his friends. Such an action meant that he wanted to make his right and power clear as a master of a slave. Afterwards, Stephanus brought a suit against Phrynion, which was answered by a counter-suit. Thus the status of Neaira was to be clarified in court.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.40.</ref>


===Trial===
Ultimately, however, the case never came to court. Both sides agreed to have the case decided by private arbitration. The result was a compromise with which both Phrynion and Stephanus could live; Neaira had no choice in the matter. It was stated that she wasn't a slave but a [[freedman]]. She had to return everything that she had taken from Phrynion's house except for the clothes, jewellery, and slaves which had been bought for her use. In addition, she would remain in the sexual domain of both men. In each case, the man with whom she lived would be responsible for her living costs.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.46–48.</ref>


Sometime between 343 and 340 BC, Neaira was brought to trial by Theomnestus on behalf of his father-in-law Apollodorus, accused of ''xenias'' (representing herself as a citizen when in fact she was not). If she was convicted, the maximum penalty Neaira faced was being sold into slavery and having her property sold.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 49.16</ref> Neaira herself would not have been permitted to speak at her trial,<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Osborne|editor-first1=Robin|editor-last2=Hornblower|editor-first2=Simon|last=Goldhill|first=Simon|title=Ritual, Finance, Politics: Athenian Democratic Accounts Presented to David Lewis|date=1994|page=357|chapter=Representing Democracy: Women at the Great Dionysia}}</ref> though she was probably present.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Osborne|editor-first1=Robin|editor-last2=Hornblower|editor-first2=Simon|last=Goldhill|first=Simon|title=Ritual, Finance, Politics: Athenian Democratic Accounts Presented to David Lewis|date=1994|page=359|chapter=Representing Democracy: Women at the Great Dionysia}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Dover|first1=K.J.|title=Lysias and the Corpus Lysiacum|date=1968|location=California|page=35}}</ref>
===Events surrounding Phano===
As Apollodorus would later state, Phano was Neaira's daughter by blood. More than ten years after the aforementioned events, Phano would marry an Athenian named Phrastor.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.50</ref> Soon afterwards, while Phano was pregnant, Phrastor divorced her, according to Apollodorus because he had learnt that Phano was the daughter of Neaira, rather than Apollodorus by an Athenian woman.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.51</ref>


The only surviving record of the trial is the speech given by Theomnestus and Apollodorus against Neaira and Stephanus, and the outcome is unknown. No records of Neaira exist after the trial. Modern commentators have noted the weaknesses in Apollodorus' arguments,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Carey|first1=Christopher|title="Apollodorus Against Neaira: [Demosthenes] 59"|date=1992|publisher=Aris & Phillips|location=Warminster}}</ref> though as the outcome of an Athenian trial depended heavily on what the parties involved could persuade the jury to accept,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Johnstone|first1=Steven|title=Apology for the Manuscript of Demosthenes 59.67|journal=The American Journal of Philology|date=2002|volume=123|issue=2|page=229}}</ref> and how much of their dishonesty they could get away with,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Fisher|first1=Nick|title=Review of "Apollodorus Against Neaera: [Demosthenes 59]" by Christopher Carey|journal=Greece & Rome|date=1993|volume=40|issue=2|pages=218-220}}</ref> we cannot say for certain that the suit failed.
Stephanus proceeded to sue Phrastor for refusing to pay back Phano's 3,000 drachma dowry, which should have returned to him following the divorce.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Pomeroy|first1=Sarah B.|title=Goddesses, Whores, Wives and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity|date=1994|publisher=Pimlico|location=London|isbn=9780712660549|page=63}}</ref> Phrastor filed a counter-suit, in which he accused Stephanus of having given him in marriage a non-Athenian wife, the potential penalty for which was that "he shall lose his civic rights and his property shall be confiscated, and a third part of it shall belong to the one who secures his conviction".<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.52</ref> Faced with the risk of his loss of citizenship, Stephanus agreed to withdraw his claim to Phano's dowry in exchange for Phrastor's withdrawing his accusation against him.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.53</ref>

Shortly after this episode, Phrastor became seriously ill, during which time Phano and Neaira cared for him. While sick, Phrastor recognized Phano's son as their legitimate child and legal heir, according to Apollodorus in order to avoid dying childless and allowing his estranged family to inherit his property.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.55–59</ref>

In the mid- or late-350 BCs Stephanus brought another affair before the court. He surprised a guest of the family &ndash; [[Epainetos]] of [[Andros]], an alleged former client of Neaira's &ndash; while he was having sex with Phano. As the head and protector of those within the household, Stephanus had the right to punish Epainetos, even so far as to kill him. But he demanded only 3,000 drachmas in damages, and Epainetos was shrewd enough to deal for two conditions.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.64–66</ref>

As soon as he was free, Epainetos sued Stephanus for allegedly unjustified capture. In addition, he would be cleared as a ''moichos''.{{refn|group=nb|''moicheia'' was the crime of having unauthorised sex with a woman of citizen status.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Johnstone|first=Steven|title=Apology for the manuscript of Demosthenes 59.67|journal=American Journal of Philology|page=229|date=2002}}</ref>}} He maintained that Phano was a prostitute and that Stephanus's house was a brothel, and that he was therefore falsely imprisoned by Stephanus.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.67</ref> All of these statements were pretty weak, since Epainetos could hardly have found witnesses to stand before the court and discredit Phano. Nevertheless, the jury possibly would have assumed that a girl in the house of the notorious Neaira must also be a hetaera.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

Once again, Stephanus relinquished his right and thus the 3,000 drachma. If he had exercised his right and landed the affair before a court, where Phano's promiscuity could not be concealed, the chances of a second, respectable marriage for the young woman would have sunk considerably. In a conciliation procedure Stephanus was nevertheless awarded an amount of 1,000 drachmas.<ref>Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.69–71</ref> Phano was briefly in a prestigious marriage a second time, but it did not go well.

===The trials===
Stephanus dealt with more than just marital problems: he was a politically active man and often involved himself in such proceedings. Apollodorus, one of the richest Athenians of this time, developed into one of Stephanus's greatest rivals. Stephanus had faced Apollodorus several times in court, and had dealt him some painful defeats.

Between 343 and 340 BC, Theomnestes produced a civil complaint (''graphe xenias'') on behalf of Apollodorus against Neaira, which involved Stephanus, though in fact almost all of the prosecution speech, with the exception of the opening passage, was given by Apollodorus. Neaira was accused of having illegally married Stephanus, and having tried to pass her daughter as an Athenian citizen when she was not. From the beginning it was openly stated that this really only concerned revenge against Stephanus. Complaints against third, indifferent parties such as Neaira were considered legitimate.

Apollodorus laid out Neaira's life history in detail and emphasized its alleged depravity, rather than attempting to give evidence against Stephanus.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Miner|first1=Jess|title=Courtesan, Concubine, Whore: Apollodorus' Deliberate Use of Terms for Prostitutes|journal=The American Journal of Philology|date=2003|volume=124|issue=1|page=21|accessdate=8 October 2015}}</ref> Stephanus, Apollodorus claimed, had violated the law which forbade marriage to a non-Athenian woman.

Today only the prosecution's speech and not the result of the trial are known. Available sources report nothing of the final fate of the most important participants. Athenian law did not permit Neaira to speak in court,<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Osborne|editor-first1=Robin|editor-last2=Hornblower|editor-first2=Simon|last=Goldhill|first=Simon|title=Ritual, Finance, Politics: Athenian Democratic Accounts Presented to David Lewis|date=1994|page=357|chapter=Representing Democracy: Women at the Great Dionysia}}</ref> even though her defeat would probably have resulted in renewed slavery. Besides that, the legal status of the children would have become uncertain.

===Conclusion===
The indictment of Neaira offers a key source to historians about Athenian social history and the history of women in Greece. Traditionally Apollodorus' speech against Neaira has been attributed to [[Demosthenes]]: the speech appears in the Demosthenic corpus as speech 59 Against Neaira, although Apollodorus is now accepted as the true author of the speech{{citation needed|date=October 2014}}.

The true nature of the hetaera can't be totally reconstructed from these sources; Neaira served several parties' interests during the trial and placed herself in the background. None of the authors &ndash; at the very least Apollodorus &ndash; are seriously interested in characterizing a woman of ill repute; and then only when something of note happens that will support the accusation, not for the purpose of objective representation.


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 19:49, 11 October 2015

For other uses, see Neaera.
A man and a hetaera (shown by the purse hanging on the wall) engaging in sexual intercourse. Interior painting of a red-figure kylix, ca. 480-470 BC attributed to the Wedding Painter. Munich, Staatliche Antikensammlungen.

Neaira (/nɪˈaɪrə/; Template:Lang-grc-gre), also Neaera (/nɪˈɪərə/), was a hetaera who lived in the 4th century BC in ancient Greece. She was brought to trial between 343 and 340 BC,[1] accused of marrying an Athenian citizen illegally and misrepresenting her daughter as an Athenian citizen.

The speech made against Neaira in this trial by Apollodorus is preserved as Demosthenes' fifty-ninth speech, though the speech is often attributed to Pseudo-Demosthenes, who seems to have worked on many of the speeches concerning Apollodorus.[2] The speech provides more details than about any other prostitute of antiquity, and consequently a great deal of information about sex trade in the ancient Greek city-states (poleis).[3]

The speech Against Neaira

The Pseudo-Demosthenic[4] speech Against Neaira is the source of most of the details of Neaira's biography. It concerns a case brought against Neaira when she was about fifty,[5] by Apollodorus' son-in-law Theomnestus, though apart from a brief introduction of the case, Apollodorus delivered the entirety of the speech.[6] The case revolves around the accusation that Neaira, a foreigner, married an Athenian citizen,[7] and that she was attempting to pass off her own children as Athenian citizens.[8]

While the speech revolves around the life of Neaira, this is of little importance to the substance of the accusations,[9] and seems to be part of the speech in the hope that the salacious accusations hides the weakness of Apollodorus' case.[10][11] The accuracy of the evidence given in the speech has been questioned, and is known to contain both lies and inaccuracies.[12]

Despite this, the speech tells us much about the life of an accomplished hetaera,[13] and is extremely valuable to historians as a source on women's lives in classical Greece.[14] Indeed, it is our most reliable extant source on prostitution in the classical world, and one of our best sources on women's lives and gender relations in general for the period.[15]

Biography

Life with Nikarete

Neaira was probably born in the first decade of the fourth century BC.[16] Her place of birth is unknown,[17] and the earliest event in her life that we know of is her purchase when she was a young girl by Nikarete.[18] Nikarete trained the girls she purchased to be hetaerae,[19] calling them her daughters in order to increase the price her customers would pay,[20] and lived with them in Corinth.[21]

Neaira's work as a prostitute started before she reached puberty.[22] She is twice described by Apollodorus as having sex for money before she came of age, though possibly due to her age he implies that she was not yet a hetaera.[23][24] It is during this time that her first known visit to Athens occurred.

The orator Lysias was a prominent guest in Nikarete's brothel and a regular customer of Metaneira,[25] another of Nikarete's girls. In order to reward her for her services, he arranged for her to be initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries, and funded the journey.[26] Neaira, at this time about twelve or thirteen,[27] and Nikarete accompanied them.[28] Neaira visited Athens again for the Great Panathenaea of 378,[29] this time accompanying Simus of Thessaly, a young aristocrat.[30][31]

Leaving Nikarete and Corinth

Around 376 BC, Timanoridas of Corinth and Eukrates of Lefkada paid thirty minae to purchase Neaira from Nikarete, at the high end of prices for hetaerae.[32] When the men married, they agreed to let Neaira buy her freedom for twenty minae, which, with the aid of gifts and loans from her former customers, she did.[33] As part of this deal, Neaira agreed to no longer work as a prostitute in Corinth, and so left the city for Athens with Phrynion, who had helped her buy her freedom.[34]

Neaira was certainly living with Phrynion in Athens by 373 BC, when he took her to a feast given by the general Chabrias to celebrate his victory in the Pythian Games.[35] During this celebration, Apollodorus says, Neaira was sexually assaulted by the guests and slaves of Chabrias while she was drunk and asleep.[36] Due to this and other mistreatment by Phrynion, in 372 BC Neaira left his household and went to Megara, taking with her her clothing and jewellery, two maids, and other of Phrynion's possessions[37]

Life with Stephanus

In Megara, Neaira continued to work as a hetaera, and in 371 met Stephanus. Stephanus offered to act as her patron if she returned with him to Athens.[38] Apollodorus claims that with her she brought two sons and a daughter to Athens,[39] but modern commentators have largely concluded that the sons in question were in fact those of Stephanus, by an Athenian woman.[40] Indeed, Carey points out that one of the sons, at least, was probably a legitimate son of Stephanus, being named after his father,[41] and Buckler notes that Apollodorus contradicts himself on whether Neaira's alleged sons were hers by another man, or hers by Stephanus.[42]

Phrynion learnt that Neaira was back in Athens, and attempted to take her back from Stephanus. Stephanus resisted, claiming that as Neaira was a free woman he had no right;[43] a claim which Phrynion proceeded to challenge in court, though he was persuaded to settle the case by arbitration instead.[44] The arbitrators decided that Neaira was indeed free, and that in addition to this she was her own kyria (mistress):[45] and extremely unusual decision in a society where all citizen women, at least, had a kyrios.[46] Despite this unusual level of freedom, however, Neaira was compelled to split her time between the two men as they agreed, without any input herself.[47]

Trial

Sometime between 343 and 340 BC, Neaira was brought to trial by Theomnestus on behalf of his father-in-law Apollodorus, accused of xenias (representing herself as a citizen when in fact she was not). If she was convicted, the maximum penalty Neaira faced was being sold into slavery and having her property sold.[48] Neaira herself would not have been permitted to speak at her trial,[49] though she was probably present.[50][51]

The only surviving record of the trial is the speech given by Theomnestus and Apollodorus against Neaira and Stephanus, and the outcome is unknown. No records of Neaira exist after the trial. Modern commentators have noted the weaknesses in Apollodorus' arguments,[52] though as the outcome of an Athenian trial depended heavily on what the parties involved could persuade the jury to accept,[53] and how much of their dishonesty they could get away with,[54] we cannot say for certain that the suit failed.

See also

Notes

References

  1. ^ Macurdy, Grace H. (1942). "Apollodorus and the Speech Against Neaera (Pseudo-Demosthenes LIX)". The American Journal of Philology. 63 (3): 258.
  2. ^ Trevett, Jeremy (1990). "History in [Demosthenes] 59". The Classical Quarterly. 40 (2): 407–420. doi:10.1017/s0009838800042981.
  3. ^ Hamel, Debra (2003). Trying Neaira : the true story of a courtesan's scandalous life in ancient Greece. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-10763-3.
  4. ^ Macurdy, Grace (1942). "Apollodorus and the Speech Against Neaera". American Journal of Philology. 63 (3): 257–271. doi:10.2307/290699.
  5. ^ Carey, Christopher (1992). Apollodorus Against Neaira: Demosthenes 59. Warminster: Aris and Phillips. p. 3.
  6. ^ Macurdy, Grace (1942). "Apollodorus and the Speech against Neaera (Pseudo-Dem. LIX)". The American Journal of Philology. 63 (3): 258.
  7. ^ Macurdy, Grace (1942). "Apollodorus and the Speech against Neaera (Pseudo-Dem. LIX)". The American Journal of Philology. 63 (3): 258.
  8. ^ Johnstone, Steven (2002). "Apology for the Manuscript of Demosthenes 59.67". The American Journal of Philology. 123 (2): 229.
  9. ^ Macurdy, Grace (1942). "Apollodorus and the Speech against Neaera (Pseudo-Dem. LIX)". The American Journal of Philology. 63 (3): 268.
  10. ^ Carey, Christopher (1992). Apollodorus Against Neaira: Demosthenes 59. Warminster: Aris and Phillips. p. 12.
  11. ^ Buckler, John (1995). "Review of "Apollodorus, the Son of Pasion" by Jeremy Trevett". The Classical Journal. 90 (3): 323–325.
  12. ^ Kapparis, Konstantinos A. (1999). "Apollodorus Against Neaira" with commentary. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. p. 2. ISBN 3-11-016390-X.
  13. ^ Macurdy, Grace (1942). "Apollodorus and the Speech against Neaera (Pseudo-Dem. LIX)". The American Journal of Philology. 63 (3): 268.
  14. ^ Kapparis, Konstantinos A. (2004). "Review of "Trying Neaira" by Debra Hamel". Journal of the History of Sexuality. 13 (1): 104–107.
  15. ^ Kapparis, Konstantinos A. (1999). "Apollodorus Against Neaira" with commentary. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. p. 2. ISBN 3-11-016390-X.
  16. ^ Kapparis, Konstantinos A. (1999). "Apollodorus Against Neaira" with commentary. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. p. 44. ISBN 3-11-016390-X.
  17. ^ Macurdy, Grace (1942). "Apollodorus and the Speech against Neaera (Pseudo-Dem. LIX)". The American Journal of Philology. 63 (3): 267.
  18. ^ Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.18
  19. ^ Macurdy, Grace (1942). "Apollodorus and the Speech against Neaera (Pseudo-Dem. LIX)". The American Journal of Philology. 63 (3): 258.
  20. ^ Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.19
  21. ^ Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.23
  22. ^ Carey, Christopher (1992). Apollodorus Against Neaira: Demosthenes 59. Warminster: Aris and Phillips. p. 3.
  23. ^ Miner, Jess (2003). "Courtesan, Concubine, Whore: Apollodorus' Deliberate Use of Terms for Prostitutes". The American Journal of Philology. 124 (1): 21–22. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  24. ^ Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.24
  25. ^ Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 13.65
  26. ^ Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.21
  27. ^ Kapparis, Konstantinos A. (1999). "Apollodorus Against Neaira" with commentary. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. p. 215. ISBN 3-11-016390-X.
  28. ^ Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.22
  29. ^ Kapparis, Konstantinos A. (1999). "Apollodorus Against Neaira" with commentary. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. p. 217. ISBN 3-11-016390-X.
  30. ^ Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.24
  31. ^ Kapparis, Konstantinos A. (1999). "Apollodorus Against Neaira" with commentary. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. p. 216. ISBN 3-11-016390-X.
  32. ^ Kapparis, Konstantinos A. (1999). "Apollodorus Against Neaira" with commentary. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 227–228. ISBN 3-11-016390-X.
  33. ^ Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.30-32
  34. ^ Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.32
  35. ^ Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.33
  36. ^ Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.33-34
  37. ^ Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.35
  38. ^ Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.37
  39. ^ Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.38
  40. ^ Fisher, Nick (1993). "Review of "Apollodorus Against Neaira: [Demosthenes] 59" edited by Christopher Carey". Greece & Rome. 40 (2): 218–220.
  41. ^ Carey, Christopher (1992). Apollodorus Against Neaira: Demosthenes 59. Warminster: Aris and Phillips.
  42. ^ Buckler, John (1995). "Review of "Apollodorus, Son of Pasion" by Jeremy Trevett". The Classical Journal. 90 (3): 323–325.
  43. ^ Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.40
  44. ^ Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.45
  45. ^ Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.46
  46. ^ Pomeroy, Sarah B. (1994). Goddesses, Whores, Wives and Slaves : Women in Classical Antiquity. London: Pimlico. p. 62. ISBN 9780712660549.
  47. ^ Pseudo-Demosthenes 59.46
  48. ^ Pseudo-Demosthenes 49.16
  49. ^ Goldhill, Simon (1994). "Representing Democracy: Women at the Great Dionysia". In Osborne, Robin; Hornblower, Simon (eds.). Ritual, Finance, Politics: Athenian Democratic Accounts Presented to David Lewis. p. 357.
  50. ^ Goldhill, Simon (1994). "Representing Democracy: Women at the Great Dionysia". In Osborne, Robin; Hornblower, Simon (eds.). Ritual, Finance, Politics: Athenian Democratic Accounts Presented to David Lewis. p. 359.
  51. ^ Dover, K.J. (1968). Lysias and the Corpus Lysiacum. California. p. 35.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  52. ^ Carey, Christopher (1992). "Apollodorus Against Neaira: [Demosthenes] 59". Warminster: Aris & Phillips.
  53. ^ Johnstone, Steven (2002). "Apology for the Manuscript of Demosthenes 59.67". The American Journal of Philology. 123 (2): 229.
  54. ^ Fisher, Nick (1993). "Review of "Apollodorus Against Neaera: [Demosthenes 59]" by Christopher Carey". Greece & Rome. 40 (2): 218–220.

Further Reading

  • Carey, Christopher (1992). "Apollodorus Against Neaira": [Demosthenes] 59. Warminster: Aris & Phillips.
  • Davidson, James N. (1997). Courtesans and Fishcakes: The Consuming Passions of Classical Athens. London.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Kapparis, Konstantinos A. (1999). "Apollodorus Against Neaira" with commentary. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-016390-X.
  • Hamel, Debra (2003). Trying Neaira: the true story of a courtesan's scandalous life in ancient Greece. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-10763-3.
  • Macurdy, Grace (1942). "Apollodorus and the Speech against Neaera (Pseudo-Dem. LIX)". The American Journal of Philology. 63 (3).

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