---
title: "Against Neaera · Κατὰ Νεαίρας"
author: "Demosthenes"
translator: "Augustus Taber Murray"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Classical Greek"
section: 1 of 3
url: https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-against-neaera/1/
cite: "Demosthenes, tr. Augustus Taber Murray, Against Neaera · Κατὰ Νεαίρας, section 1. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-against-neaera/1/"
---

# Against Neaera · Κατὰ Νεαίρας

*Demosthenes, tr. Augustus Taber Murray*

Apollodorus accuses a former courtesan of living as an Athenian wife: the fullest picture of the lives of women in classical Athens.

> Greek: ed. William Rennie, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0014.tlg059, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Augustus Taber Murray, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0014.tlg059.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 1. Sections 1–43

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-against-neaera/1/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-against-neaera/1/#p-N

[¶0] 1. (Theomnestus, who brings the indictment, speaks.) Many indeed are the reasons, men of Athens, which urged me to prefer this indictment against Neaera, and to come before you. We have suffered grievous wrongs at the hands of Stephanus and have been brought by him into the most extreme peril, I mean my father-in-law, myself, my sister, and my wife; so that I shall enter upon this trial, not as an aggressor, but as one seeking vengeance. For Stephanus was the one who began our quarrel without ever having been wronged by us in word or deed. I wish at the outset to state before you the wrongs which we have suffered at this hands, in order that you may feel more indulgence for me as I seek to defend myself and to show you into what extreme danger we were brought by him of losing our country and our civic rights.

> Greek: 1. πολλά με τὰ παρακαλοῦντα ἦν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, γράψασθαι Νέαιραν τὴν γραφὴν ταυτηνὶ καὶ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς ὑμᾶς. καὶ γὰρ ἠδικήμεθα ὑπὸ Στεφάνου μεγάλα, καὶ εἰς κινδύνους τοὺς ἐσχάτους κατέστημεν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ, ὅ τε κηδεστὴς καὶ ἐγὼ καὶ ἡ ἀδελφὴ καὶ ἡ γυνὴ ἡ ἐμή, ὥστε οὐχ ὑπάρχων ἀλλὰ τιμωρούμενος ἀγωνιοῦμαι τὸν ἀγῶνα τουτονί· τῆς γὰρ ἔχθρας πρότερος οὗτος ὑπῆρξεν, οὐδὲν ὑφʼ ἡμῶν πώποτε οὔτε λόγῳ οὔτε ἔργῳ κακὸν παθών. βούλομαι δʼ ὑμῖν προδιηγήσασθαι πρῶτον ἃ πεπόνθαμεν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ, ἵνα μᾶλλόν μοι συγγνώμην ἔχητε ἀμυνομένῳ, καὶ ὡς εἰς ⟨τοὺς⟩ ἐσχάτους κινδύνους κατέστημεν περί τε τῆς πατρίδος καὶ περὶ ἀτιμίας.

[¶1] 2. When the people of Athens passed a decree granting the right of citizenship to Pasion and his descendants on account of services to the state, my father favored the granting of the people’s gift, and himself gave in marriage to Apollodorus, son of Pasion, his own daughter, my sister, and she is the mother of the children of Apollodorus. Inasmuch as Apollodorus acted honorably toward my sister and toward all of us, and considered us in truth his relatives and entitled to share in all that he had, I took to wife his daughter, my own niece.

> Greek: 2. ψηφισαμένου γὰρ τοῦ δήμου τοῦ Ἀθηναίων Ἀθηναῖον εἶναι Πασίωνα καὶ ἐκγόνους τοὺς ἐκείνου διὰ τὰς εὐεργεσίας τὰς εἰς τὴν πόλιν, ὁμογνώμων καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἐγένετο ὁ ἐμὸς τῇ τοῦ δήμου δωρεᾷ, καὶ ἔδωκεν Ἀπολλοδώρῳ τῷ υἱεῖ τῷ ἐκείνου θυγατέρα μὲν αὑτοῦ, ἀδελφὴν δὲ ἐμήν, ἐξ ἧς Ἀπολλοδώρῳ οἱ παῖδές εἰσιν. ὄντος δὲ χρηστοῦ τοῦ Ἀπολλοδώρου περί τε τὴν ἀδελφὴν τὴν ἐμὴν καὶ περὶ ἡμᾶς ἅπαντας, καὶ ἡγουμένου τῇ ἀληθείᾳ οἰκείους ὄντας κοινωνεῖν πάντων τῶν ὄντων, ἔλαβον καὶ ἐγὼ γυναῖκα Ἀπολλοδώρου μὲν θυγατέρα, ἀδελφιδῆν δʼ ἐμαυτοῦ.

[¶2] 3. After some time had elapsed Apollodorus was chosen by lot as a member of the senate; and when he had passed the scrutiny and had sworn the customary oath, there came upon the city a war and a crisis so grave that, if victors, you would be supreme among the Greek peoples, and would beyond possibility of dispute have recovered your own possessions and have crushed Philip in war; but, if your help arrived too late and you abandoned your allies, allowing your army to be disbanded for want of money, you would lose these allies, forfeit the confidence of the rest of the Greeks, and risk the loss of your other possessions, Lemnos and Imbros, and Scyros and the Chersonese. You were at that time on the point of sending your entire force to Euboea and Olynthus, and Apollodorus, being one of its members, brought forward in the senate a bill, and carried it as a preliminary decree to the assembly, proposing that the people should decide whether the funds remaining over from the state’s expenditure should be used for military purposes or for public spectacles. For the laws prescribed that, when there was war, the funds remaining over from state expenditures should be devoted to military purposes, and Apollodorus believed that the people ought to have power to do what they pleased with their own; and he had sworn that, as member of the senate, he would act for the best interests of the Athenian people, as you all bore witness at that crisis.

> Greek: 3. προεληλυθότος δὲ χρόνου λαγχάνει βουλεύειν Ἀπολλόδωρος· δοκιμασθεὶς δὲ καὶ ὀμόσας τὸν νόμιμον ὅρκον, συμβάντος τῇ πόλει καιροῦ τοιούτου καὶ πολέμου, ἐν ᾧ ἦν ἢ κρατήσασιν ὑμῖν μεγίστοις τῶν Ἑλλήνων εἶναι καὶ ἀναμφισβητήτως τά τε ὑμέτερα αὐτῶν κεκομίσθαι καὶ καταπεπολεμηκέναι Φίλιππον, ἢ ὑστερίσασι τῇ βοηθείᾳ καὶ προεμένοις τοὺς συμμάχους, διʼ ἀπορίαν χρημάτων καταλυθέντος τοῦ στρατοπέδου, τούτους τʼ ἀπολέσαι καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις Ἕλλησιν ἀπίστους εἶναι δοκεῖν, καὶ κινδυνεύειν περὶ τῶν ὑπολοίπων, περί τε Λήμνου καὶ Ἴμβρου καὶ Σκύρου καὶ Χερρονήσου, καὶ μελλόντων στρατεύεσθαι ὑμῶν πανδημεὶ εἴς τε Εὔβοιαν καὶ Ὄλυνθον, ἔγραψε ψήφισμα ἐν τῇ βουλῇ Ἀπολλόδωρος βουλεύων καὶ ἐξήνεγκε προβούλευμα εἰς τὸν δῆμον, λέγον διαχειροτονῆσαι τὸν δῆμον εἴτε δοκεῖ τὰ περιόντα χρήματα τῆς διοικήσεως στρατιωτικὰ εἶναι εἴτε θεωρικά, κελευόντων μὲν τῶν νόμων, ὅταν πόλεμος ᾖ, τὰ περιόντα χρήματα τῆς διοικήσεως στρατιωτικὰ εἶναι, κύριον δʼ ἡγούμενος δεῖν τὸν δῆμον εἶναι περὶ τῶν αὑτοῦ ὅ τι ἂν βούληται πρᾶξαι, ὀμωμοκὼς δὲ τὰ βέλτιστα βουλεύσειν τῷ δήμῳ τῷ Ἀθηναίων, ὡς ὑμεῖς πάντες ἐμαρτυρήσατε ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ καιρῷ.

[¶3] 5. For when the division took place there was not a man whose vote opposed the use of these funds for military purposes; and even now, if the matter is anywhere spoken of, it is acknowledged by all that Apollodorus gave the best advice, and was unjustly treated. It is, therefore, upon the one who by his arguments deceived the jurors that your wrath should fall, not upon those who were deceived.

> Greek: 5. γενομένης γὰρ τῆς διαχειροτονίας, οὐδεὶς ἀντεχειροτόνησεν ὡς οὐ δεῖ τοῖς χρήμασι τούτοις στρατιωτικοῖς χρῆσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ νῦν ἔτι, ἄν που λόγος γένηται, παρὰ πάντων ὁμολογεῖται ὡς τὰ βέλτιστα εἰπὼν ἄδικα πάθοι. τῷ οὖν ἐξαπατήσαντι τῷ λόγῳ τοὺς δικαστὰς δίκαιον ὀργίζεσθαι, οὐ τοῖς ἐξαπατηθεῖσιν. γραψάμενος γὰρ παρανόμων τὸ ψήφισμα Στέφανος οὑτοσὶ καὶ εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὸ δικαστήριον, ἐπὶ διαβολῇ ψευδεῖς μάρτυρας παρασχόμενος ὡς ὦφλε τῷ δημοσίῳ ἐκ πέντε καὶ εἴκοσιν ἐτῶν, καὶ ἔξω τῆς γραφῆς πολλὰ κατηγορῶν, εἷλε τὸ ψήφισμα.

[¶4] 6. This fellow Stephanus indicted the decree as illegal, and came before a court. He produced false witnesses to substantiate the calumnious charge that Apollodorus had been a debtor to the treasury for twenty-five years, and by making all sorts of accusations that were foreign to the indictment won a verdict against the decree. So far as this is concerned, if he saw fit to follow this course, we do not take it ill; but when the jurors were casting their votes to fix the penalty, although we begged him to make concessions, he would not listen to us, but fixed the fine at fifteen talents in order to deprive Apollodorus and his children of their civic rights, and to bring my sister and all of us into extremest distress and utter destitution.

> Greek: 6. καὶ τοῦτο μὲν εἰ αὐτῷ ἐδόκει διαπράξασθαι, οὐ χαλεπῶς φέρομεν· ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὴ περὶ τοῦ τιμήματος ἐλάμβανον τὴν ψῆφον οἱ δικασταί, δεομένων ἡμῶν συγχωρῆσαι οὐκ ἤθελεν, ἀλλὰ πεντεκαίδεκα ταλάντων ἐτιμᾶτο, ἵνα ἀτιμώσειεν αὐτὸν καὶ παῖδας τοὺς ἐκείνου, καὶ τὴν ἀδελφὴν τὴν ἐμὴν καὶ ἡμᾶς ἅπαντας εἰς τὴν ἐσχάτην ἀπορίαν καταστήσειεν καὶ ἔνδειαν ἁπάντων.

[¶5] 7. For the property of Apollodorus did not amount to as much as three talents to enable him to pay in full a fine of such magnitude, yet if it were not paid by the ninth prytany the fine would have been doubled and Apollodorus would have been inscribed as owing thirty talents to the treasury, all the property that he has would have been scheduled as belonging to the state, and upon its being sold Apollodorus himself and his children and his wife and all of us would have been reduced to extremest distress.

> Greek: 7. ἡ μὲν γὰρ οὐσία οὐδὲ τριῶν ταλάντων πάνυ τι ἦν, ὥστε δυνηθῆναι ἐκτεῖσαι τοσοῦτον ὄφλημα· μὴ ἐκτεισθέντος δὲ τοῦ ὀφλήματος ἐπὶ τῆς ἐνάτης πρυτανείας, διπλοῦν ἔμελλεν ἔσεσθαι τὸ ὄφλημα καὶ ἐγγραφήσεσθαι Ἀπολλόδωρος τριάκοντα τάλαντα ὀφείλων τῷ δημοσίῳ· ἐγγεγραμμένου δὲ τῷ δημοσίῳ, ἀπογραφήσεσθαι ἔμελλεν ἡ ὑπάρχουσα οὐσία Ἀπολλοδώρῳ δημοσία εἶναι, πραθείσης δʼ αὐτῆς εἰς τὴν ἐσχάτην ἀπορίαν καταστήσεσθαι καὶ αὐτὸς καὶ παῖδες οἱ ἐκείνου καὶ γυνὴ καὶ ἡμεῖς ἅπαντες.

[¶6] 8. And more than this, his other daughter would never have been given in marriage; for who would ever have taken to wife a portionless girl from a father who was a debtor to the treasury and without resources? Of such magnitude, you see, were the calamities which Stephanus was bringing upon us all without ever having been wronged by us in any respect. To the jurors, therefore, who at that time decided the matter I am deeply grateful for this at least, that they did not suffer Apollodorus to be utterly ruined, but fixed the amount of the fine at one talent, so that he was able to discharge the debt, although with difficulty. With good reason, then, have we undertaken to pay Stephanus back in the same coin.

> Greek: 8. ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἡ ἑτέρα θυγάτηρ ἀνέκδοτος ἔμελλεν ἔσεσθαι· τίς γὰρ ἄν ποτε παρʼ ὀφείλοντος τῷ δημοσίῳ καὶ ἀποροῦντος ἔλαβεν ἄπροικον; οὐκοῦν τηλικούτων κακῶν αἴτιος ἡμῖν πᾶσιν ἐγίγνετο, οὐδὲν πώποτε ὑφʼ ἡμῶν ἠδικημένος. τοῖς μὲν οὖν δικασταῖς τοῖς τότε δικάσασι πολλὴν χάριν κατά γε τοῦτο ἔχω, ὅτι οὐ περιεῖδον αὐτὸν ἀναρπασθέντα, ἀλλʼ ἐτίμησαν ταλάντου, ὥστε δυνηθῆναι ἐκτεῖσαι μόλις· τούτῳ δὲ δικαίως τὸν αὐτὸν ἔρανον ἐνεχειρήσαμεν ἀποδοῦναι.

[¶7] 9. For not only did Stephanus seek in this way to bring us to ruin, but he even wished to drive Apollodorus from his country. He brought a false charge against him that, having once gone to Aphidna in search of a runaway slave of his, he had there struck a woman, and that she had died of the blow; and he suborned some slaves and got them to give out that they were men of Cyren, and by public proclamation cited Apollodorus before the court of the Palladium on a charge of murder.

> Greek: 9. καὶ γὰρ οὐ μόνον ταύτῃ ἐζήτησεν ἀνελεῖν ἡμᾶς, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ τῆς πατρίδος αὐτὸν ἐβουλήθη ἐκβαλεῖν. ἐπενέγκας γὰρ αὐτῷ αἰτίαν ψευδῆ ὡς Ἀφίδναζέ ποτε ἀφικόμενος ἐπὶ δραπέτην αὑτοῦ ζητῶν πατάξειε γυναῖκα καὶ ἐκ τῆς πληγῆς τελευτήσειεν ἡ ἄνθρωπος, παρασκευασάμενος ἀνθρώπους δούλους καὶ κατασκευάσας ὡς Κυρηναῖοι εἴησαν, προεῖπεν αὐτῷ ἐπὶ Παλλαδίῳ φόνου.

[¶8] 10. This fellow Stephanus prosecuted the case, declaring on oath that Apollodorus had killed the woman with his own hand, and he imprecated destruction upon himself and his race and his house, affirming matters which had never taken place, which he had never seen or heard from any human being. However, since he was proved to have committed perjury and to have brought forward a false accusation, and was shown to have been hired by Cephisophon and Apollophanes to procure for pay the banishment or the disfranchisement of Apollodorus, he received but a few votes out of a total of five hundred, and left the court a perjured man and one with the reputation of a scoundrel.

> Greek: 10. καὶ ἔλεγεν τὴν δίκην Στέφανος οὑτοσί, διομοσάμενος ὡς ἔκτεινεν Ἀπολλόδωρος τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοχειρίᾳ, ἐξώλειαν αὑτῷ καὶ γένει καὶ οἰκίᾳ ἐπαρασάμενος, ἃ οὔτʼ ἐγένετο οὔτʼ εἶδεν οὔτʼ ἤκουσεν οὐδενὸς πώποτε ἀνθρώπων. ἐξελεγχθεὶς δʼ ἐπιορκῶν καὶ ψευδῆ αἰτίαν ἐπιφέρων, καὶ καταφανὴς γενόμενος μεμισθωμένος ὑπὸ Κηφισοφῶντος καὶ Ἀπολλοφάνους ὥστʼ ἐξελάσαι Ἀπολλόδωρον ἢ ἀτιμῶσαι ἀργύριον εἰληφώς, ὀλίγας ψήφους μεταλαβὼν ἐκ πεντακοσίων, ἀπῆλθεν ἐπιωρκηκὼς καὶ δόξας πονηρὸς εἶναι.

[¶9] 11. Now, men of the jury, I would have you ask yourselves, considering in your own minds the natural course of events, what I could have done with myself and my wife and my sister, if it had fallen to the lot of Apollodorus to suffer any of the injuries which this fellow Stephanus plotted to inflict upon him in either the former or the latter trial, or how great were the disgrace and the ruin in which I should have been involved.

> Greek: 11. σκοπεῖτε δὴ αὐτοί, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, ἐκ τῶν εἰκότων λογιζόμενοι πρὸς ὑμᾶς αὐτούς, τί ἂν ἐχρησάμην ἐμαυτῷ καὶ τῇ γυναικὶ καὶ τῇ ἀδελφῇ, εἴ τι Ἀπολλοδώρῳ συνέβη παθεῖν ὧν Στέφανος οὑτοσὶ ἐπεβούλευσεν αὐτῷ, ἢ ἐν τῷ προτέρῳ ἢ ἐν τῷ ὑστέρῳ ἀγῶνι; ἢ ποίᾳ αἰσχύνῃ οὐκ ἂν καὶ συμφορᾷ περιπεπτωκὼς ἦν;

[¶10] 12. People came to me privately from all sides exhorting me to exact punishment from my opponent for the wrongs he had done us. They flung in my teeth the charge that I was the most cowardly of humankind, if, being so closely related to them, I did not take vengeance for the injuries done my sister, my father-in-law, my sister’s children, and my own wife, and if I did not bring before you this woman who is guilty of such flagrant impiety toward the gods, of such outrage toward the commonwealth, and of such contempt for your laws, and by prosecuting her and by my arguments convicting her of crime, to enable you to deal with her as you might see fit.

> Greek: 12. παρακαλούντων δή με ἁπάντων, ἰδίᾳ προσιόντων μοι, ἐπὶ τιμωρίαν τρέπεσθαι ὧν ἐπάθομεν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὀνειδιζόντων μοι ἀνανδρότατον ἀνθρώπων εἶναι, εἰ οὕτως οἰκείως ἔχων τὰ πρὸς τούτους μὴ λήψομαι δίκην ὑπὲρ ἀδελφῆς καὶ κηδεστοῦ καὶ ἀδελφιδῶν καὶ γυναικὸς ἐμαυτοῦ, μηδὲ τὴν περιφανῶς εἰς τοὺς θεοὺς ἀσεβοῦσαν καὶ εἰς τὴν πόλιν ὑβρίζουσαν καὶ τῶν νόμων καταφρονοῦσαν τῶν ὑμετέρων εἰσαγαγὼν εἰς ὑμᾶς καὶ ἐξελέγξας τῷ λόγῳ ὡς ἀδικεῖ, κυρίους καταστήσω ὅ τι ἂν βούλησθε χρῆσθαι αὐτῇ, ὥσπερ καὶ Στέφανος οὑτοσὶ ἐμὲ ἀφῃρεῖτο τοὺς οἰκείους παρὰ τοὺς νόμους καὶ τὰ ψηφίσματα τὰ ὑμέτερα, οὕτω καὶ ἐγὼ τοῦτον ἥκω ἐπιδείξων εἰς ὑμᾶς ξένῃ μὲν γυναικὶ συνοικοῦντα παρὰ τὸν νόμον, ἀλλοτρίους δὲ παῖδας εἰσαγαγόντα εἴς τε τοὺς φράτερας καὶ εἰς τοὺς δημότας, ἐγγυῶντα δὲ τὰς τῶν ἑταιρῶν θυγατέρας ὡς αὑτοῦ οὔσας, ἠσεβηκότα δʼ εἰς τοὺς θεούς, ἄκυρον δὲ ποιοῦντα τὸν δῆμον τῶν αὑτοῦ, ἄν τινα βούληται πολίτην ποιήσασθαι·

[¶11] 13. And as Stephanus here sought to deprive me of my relatives contrary to your laws and your decrees, so I too have come before you to prove that Stephanus is living with an alien woman contrary to the law; that he has introduced children not his own to his fellow-clansmen and demesmen; that he has given in marriage the daughters of courtesans as though they were his own; that he is guilty of impiety toward the gods; and that he nullifies the right of your people to bestow its own favors, if it chooses to admit anyone to citizenship; for who will any longer seek to win this reward from you and to undergo heavy expense and much trouble in order to become a citizen, when he can get what he wants from Stephanus at less expense, assuming that the result for him is to be the same? The injuries, then, which I have suffered at the hands of Stephanus, and which led me to prefer this indictment, I have told you. I must now prove to you that this woman Neaera is an alien, that she is living with this man Stephanus as his wife, and that she has violated the laws of the state in many ways. I make of you, therefore, men of the jury, a request which seems to me a proper one for a young man and one without experience in speaking—that you will permit me to call Apollodorus as advocate to assist me in this trial.

> Greek: 13. τίς γὰρ ἂν ἔτι παρὰ τοῦ δήμου ζητήσειε λαβεῖν δωρεάν, μετὰ πολλῶν ἀναλωμάτων καὶ πραγματείας πολίτης μέλλων ἔσεσθαι, ἐξὸν παρὰ Στεφάνου ἀπʼ ἐλάττονος ἀναλώματος, εἴ γε τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο γενήσεται αὐτῷ; ἃ μὲν οὖν ἀδικηθεὶς ἐγὼ ὑπὸ Στεφάνου πρότερος ἐγραψάμην τὴν γραφὴν ταύτην, εἴρηκα πρὸς ὑμᾶς· ὡς δʼ ἐστὶν ξένη Νέαιρα αὑτηὶ καὶ συνοικεῖ Στεφάνῳ τουτῳὶ καὶ πολλὰ παρανενόμηκεν εἰς τὴν πόλιν, ταῦτʼ ἤδη δεῖ μαθεῖν ὑμᾶς. δέομαι οὖν ὑμῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, ἅπερ ἡγοῦμαι προσήκειν δεηθῆναι νέον τε ὄντα καὶ ἀπείρως ἔχοντα τοῦ λέγειν, συνήγορόν με κελεῦσαι καλέσαι τῷ ἀγῶνι τούτῳ Ἀπολλόδωρον.

[¶12] 15. For he is older than I and is better acquainted with the laws. He has studied all these matters with the greatest care, and he too has been wronged by this fellow Stephanus so that no one can object to his seeking vengeance upon the one who injured him without provocation. It is your duty, in the light of truth itself, when you have heard the exact nature both of the accusation and the defense, then and not till then to reach a verdict which will be in the interest of the gods of the laws, of justice, and of your own selves. (Apollodorus, as co-pleaser, speaks.)

> Greek: 15. καὶ γὰρ πρεσβύτερός ἐστιν ἢ ἐγώ, καὶ ἐμπειροτέρως ἔχει τῶν νόμων, καὶ μεμέληκεν αὐτῷ περὶ τούτων ἁπάντων ἀκριβῶς, καὶ ἠδίκηται ὑπὸ Στεφάνου τουτουί, ὥστε καὶ ἀνεπίφθονον αὐτῷ τιμωρεῖσθαι τὸν ὑπάρξαντα. δεῖ δʼ ὑμᾶς ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς ἀληθείας, τὴν ἀκρίβειαν ἀκούσαντας τῆς τε κατηγορίας καὶ τῆς ἀπολογίας, οὕτως ἤδη τὴν ψῆφον φέρειν ὑπέρ τε τῶν θεῶν καὶ τῶν νόμων καὶ τοῦ δικαίου καὶ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν. ΣΥΝΗΓΟΡΙΑ.

[¶13] 16. The wrongs done me by Stephanus, men of Athens, which have led me to come forward to accuse this woman Neaera, have been told you by Theomnestus. And that Neaera is an alien woman and is living as his wife with Stephanus contrary to the laws, I wish to make clear to you. First, the clerk shall read you the law under which Theomnestus preferred this indictment and this case comes before you. The Law “If an alien shall live as husband with an Athenian woman in any way or manner whatsoever, he may be indicted before the Thesmothetae by anyone who chooses to do so from among the Athenians having the right to bring charges. And if he be convicted, he shall be sold, himself and his property, and the third part shall belong to the one securing his conviction. The same principle shall hold also if an alien woman shall live as wife with an Athenian, and the Athenian who lives as husband with the alien woman so convicted shall be fined one thousand drachmae.”

> Greek: 16. ἃ μὲν ἠδικημένος, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὑπὸ Στεφάνου ἀναβέβηκα κατηγορήσων Νεαίρας ταυτησί, Θεόμνηστος εἴρηκεν πρὸς ὑμᾶς· ὡς δʼ ἐστὶ ξένη Νέαιρα καὶ παρὰ τοὺς νόμους συνοικεῖ Στεφάνῳ, τοῦτο ὑμῖν βούλομαι σαφῶς ἐπιδεῖξαι. πρῶτον μὲν οὖν τὸν νόμον ὑμῖν ἀναγνώσεται, καθʼ ὃν τήν τε γραφὴν ταυτηνὶ Θεόμνηστος ἐγράψατο καὶ ὁ ἀγὼν οὗτος εἰσέρχεται εἰς ὑμᾶς. ΝΟΜΟΣ. ἐὰν δὲ ξένος ἀστῇ συνοικῇ τέχνῃ ἢ μηχανῇ ᾑτινιοῦν, γραφέσθω πρὸς τοὺς θεσμοθέτας Ἀθηναίων ὁ βουλόμενος οἷς ἔξεστιν. ἐὰν δὲ ἁλῷ, πεπράσθω καὶ αὐτὸς καὶ ἡ οὐσία αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὸ τρίτον μέρος ἔστω τοῦ ἑλόντος. ἔστω δὲ καὶ ἐὰν ἡ ξένη τῷ ἀστῷ συνοικῇ κατὰ ταὐτά, καὶ ὁ συνοικῶν τῇ ξένῃ τῇ ἁλούσῃ ὀφειλέτω χιλίας δραχμάς.

[¶14] 17. You have heard the law, men of the jury, which forbids the union of an alien woman with an Athenian, or of an Athenian woman with an alien in any way or manner whatsoever, or the procreation of children. And if any persons shall transgress this law, it has provided that there shall be an indictment against them before the Thesmothetae, against both the alien man and the alien woman, and that, if convicted, any such person shall be sold. I wish, therefore, to prove to you convincingly from the very beginning that this woman Neaera is an alien.

> Greek: 17. τοῦ μὲν νόμου τοίνυν ἀκηκόατε, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, ὃς οὐκ ἐᾷ τὴν ξένην τῷ ἀστῷ συνοικεῖν οὐδὲ τὴν ἀστὴν τῷ ξένῳ, οὐδὲ παιδοποιεῖσθαι, τέχνῃ οὐδὲ μηχανῇ οὐδεμιᾷ· ἐὰν δέ τις παρὰ ταῦτα ποιῇ, γραφὴν πεποίηκεν κατʼ αὐτῶν εἶναι πρὸς τοὺς θεσμοθέτας, κατά τε τοῦ ξένου καὶ τῆς ξένης, κἂν ἁλῷ, πεπρᾶσθαι κελεύει. ὡς οὖν ἐστι ξένη Νέαιρα αὑτηί, τοῦθʼ ὑμῖν βούλομαι ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἀκριβῶς ἐπιδεῖξαι.

[¶15] 18. There were these seven girls who were purchased while they were small children by Nicaretê, who was the freedwoman of Charisius the Elean and the wife of his cook Hippias. She was skilled in recognizing the budding beauty of young girls and knew well how to bring them up and train them artfully; for she made this her profession, and she got her livelihood from the girls.

> Greek: 18. ἑπτὰ γὰρ ταύτας παιδίσκας ἐκ μικρῶν παιδίων ἐκτήσατο Νικαρέτη, Χαρισίου μὲν οὖσα τοῦ Ἠλείου ἀπελευθέρα, Ἱππίου δὲ τοῦ μαγείρου τοῦ ἐκείνου γυνή, δεινὴ δὲ [καὶ δυναμένη] φύσιν μικρῶν παιδίων συνιδεῖν εὐπρεπῆ, καὶ ταῦτα ἐπισταμένη θρέψαι καὶ παιδεῦσαι ἐμπείρως, τέχνην ταύτην κατεσκευασμένη καὶ ἀπὸ τούτων τὸν βίον συνειλεγμένη.

[¶16] 19. She called them by the name of daughters in order that, by giving out that they were free women, she might exact the largest fees from those who wished to enjoy them. When she had reaped the profit of the youthful prime of each, she sold them, all seven, without omitting one—Anteia and Stratola and Aristocleia and Metaneira and Phila and Isthmias and this Neaera.

> Greek: 19. προσειποῦσα δʼ αὐτὰς ὀνόματι θυγατέρας, ἵνʼ ὡς μεγίστους μισθοὺς πράττοιτο τοὺς βουλομένους πλησιάζειν αὐταῖς ὡς ἐλευθέραις οὔσαις, ἐπειδὴ τὴν ἡλικίαν ἐκαρπώσατο αὐτῶν ἑκάστης, συλλήβδην καὶ τὰ σώματα ἀπέδοτο ἁπασῶν ἑπτὰ οὐσῶν, Ἄντειαν καὶ Στρατόλαν καὶ Ἀριστόκλειαν καὶ Μετάνειραν καὶ Φίλαν καὶ Ἰσθμιάδα καὶ Νέαιραν ταυτηνί.

[¶17] 20. Who it was who purchased them severally, and how they were set free by those who bought them from Nicaretê, I will tell you in the course of my speech, if you care to hear and if the water in the water-clock holds out. I wish for the moment to return to the defendant Neaera, and prove to you that she belonged to Nicaretê, and that she lived as a prostitute letting out her person for hire to those who wished to enjoy her.

> Greek: 20. ἣν μὲν οὖν ἕκαστος αὐτῶν ἐκτήσατο καὶ ὡς ἠλευθερώθησαν ἀπὸ τῶν πριαμένων αὐτὰς παρὰ τῆς Νικαρέτης, προϊόντος τοῦ λόγου, ἂν βούλησθε ἀκούειν καί μοι περιουσία ᾖ τοῦ ὕδατος, δηλώσω ὑμῖν· ὡς δὲ Νέαιρα αὑτηὶ Νικαρέτης ἦν καὶ ἠργάζετο τῷ σώματι μισθαρνοῦσα τοῖς βουλομένοις αὐτῇ πλησιάζειν, τοῦθʼ ὑμῖν βούλομαι πάλιν ἐπανελθεῖν.

[¶18] 21. Lysias, the sophist, being the lover of Metaneira, wished, in addition to the other expenditures which he lavished upon her, also to initiate her; for he considered that everything else which he expended upon her was being taken by the woman who owned her, but that from whatever he might spend on her behalf for the festival and the initiation the girl herself would profit and be grateful to him. So he asked Nicaretê to come to the mysteries bringing with her Metaneira that she might be initiated, and he promised that he would himself initiate her.

> Greek: 21. Λυσίας γὰρ ὁ σοφιστὴς Μετανείρας ὢν ἐραστής, ἐβουλήθη πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀναλώμασιν οἷς ἀνήλισκεν εἰς αὐτὴν καὶ μυῆσαι, ἡγούμενος τὰ μὲν ἄλλα ἀναλώματα τὴν κεκτημένην αὐτὴν λαμβάνειν, ἃ δʼ ἂν εἰς τὴν ἑορτὴν καὶ τὰ μυστήρια ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς ἀναλώσῃ, πρὸς αὐτὴν τὴν ἄνθρωπον χάριν καταθήσεσθαι. ἐδεήθη οὖν τῆς Νικαρέτης ἐλθεῖν εἰς τὰ μυστήρια ἄγουσαν τὴν Μετάνειραν, ἵνα μυηθῇ, καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπέσχετο μυήσειν.

[¶19] 22. When they got here, Lysias did not bring them to his own house, out of regard for his wife, the daughter of Brachyllus and his own niece, and for his own mother, who was elderly and who lived in the same house; but he lodged the two, Metaneira and Nicaretê, with Philostratus of Colonus, who was a friend of his and was as yet unmarried. They were accompanied by this woman Neaera, who had already taken up the trade of a prostitute, young as she was; for she was not yet old enough.

> Greek: 22. ἀφικομένας δʼ αὐτὰς ὁ Λυσίας εἰς μὲν τὴν αὑτοῦ οἰκίαν οὐκ εἰσάγει, αἰσχυνόμενος τήν τε γυναῖκα ἣν εἶχε, Βραχύλλου μὲν θυγατέρα, ἀδελφιδῆν δὲ αὑτοῦ, καὶ τὴν μητέρα τὴν αὑτοῦ πρεσβυτέραν τε οὖσαν καὶ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ διαιτωμένην· ὡς Φιλόστρατον δὲ τὸν Κολωνῆθεν, ᾔθεον ἔτι ὄντα καὶ φίλον αὐτῷ, καθίστησιν ὁ Λυσίας αὐτάς, τήν τε Μετάνειραν καὶ τὴν Νικαρέτην. συνηκολούθει δὲ καὶ Νέαιρα αὑτηί, ἐργαζομένη μὲν ἤδη τῷ σώματι, νεωτέρα δὲ οὖσα διὰ τὸ μήπω τὴν ἡλικίαν αὐτῇ παρεῖναι.

[¶20] 23. To prove the truth of my statements—that the defendant belonged to Nicaretê and followed in her train, and that she prostituted her person to anyone who wished to pay for it—I will call Philostratus as witness to these facts. The Deposition “Philostratus, son of Dionysius, of Colonus, deposes that he knows that Neaera was a slave of Nicaretê, to whom Metaneira also belonged, that they were residents of Corinth, and that they stayed at his house when they came to Athens for the mysteries, and that Lysias the son of Cephalêus, who was an intimate friend of his, established them in his house.”

> Greek: 23. ὡς οὖν ἀληθῆ λέγω, ὅτι Νικαρέτης ἦν καὶ ἠκολούθει ἐκείνῃ καὶ ἐμισθάρνει τῷ βουλομένῳ ἀναλίσκειν, τούτων ὑμῖν αὐτὸν τὸν Φιλόστρατον μάρτυρα καλῶ. ΜΑΡΤΥΡΙΑ. Φιλόστρατος Διονυσίου Κολωνῆθεν μαρτυρεῖ εἰδέναι Νέαιραν Νικαρέτης οὖσαν, ἧσπερ καὶ Μετάνειρα ἐγένετο, καὶ κατάγεσθαι παρʼ αὑτῷ, ὅτε εἰς τὰ μυστήρια ἐπεδήμησαν ἐν Κορίνθῳ οἰκοῦσαι· καταστῆσαι δὲ αὐτὰς ὡς αὑτὸν Λυσίαν τὸν Κεφάλου, φίλον ὄντα ἑαυτῷ καὶ ἐπιτήδειον.

[¶21] 24. Again after this, men of Athens, Simus the Thessalian came here with the defendant Neaera for the great Panathenaea. Nicaretê came with her, and they lodged with Ctesippus son of Glauconides, of Cydantidae; and the defendant Neaera drank and dined with them in the presence of many men, as any courtesan would do. To prove the truth of my statements, I will call witnesses to these facts.

> Greek: 24. πάλιν τοίνυν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, μετὰ ταῦτα Σῖμος ὁ Θετταλὸς ἔχων Νέαιραν ταυτηνὶ ἀφικνεῖται δεῦρο εἰς τὰ Παναθήναια τὰ μεγάλα. συνηκολούθει δὲ καὶ ἡ Νικαρέτη αὐτῇ, κατήγοντο δὲ παρὰ Κτησίππῳ τῷ Γλαυκωνίδου τῷ Κυδαντίδῃ, καὶ συνέπινεν καὶ συνεδείπνει ἐναντίον πολλῶν Νέαιρα αὑτηὶ ὡς ἂν ἑταίρα οὖσα. καὶ ὅτι ἀληθῆ λέγω, τούτων ὑμῖν τοὺς μάρτυρας καλῶ.

[¶22] 25. (To the clerk.) Please call Euphiletus, son of Simon, of Aexonê, and Aristomachus, son of Critodemus, of Alopecê. The Witnesses “Euphiletus son of Simon, of Aexonê, and Aristomachus son of Critodemus, of Alopecê, depose that they know that Simus the Thessalian came to Athens for the great Panathenaea, and that Nicaretê came with him, and Neaera, the present defendant; and that they lodged with Ctesippus son of Glauconides, and that Neaera drank with them as being a courtesan, while many others were present and joined in the drinking in the house of Ctesippus.”

> Greek: 25. καί μοι κάλει Εὐφίλητον Σίμωνος Αἰξωνέα καὶ Ἀριστόμαχον Κριτοδήμου Ἀλωπεκῆθεν. ΜΑΡΤΥΡΕΣ. Εὐφίλητος Σίμωνος Αἰξωνεύς, Ἀριστόμαχος Κριτοδήμου Ἀλωπεκῆθεν, μαρτυροῦσιν εἰδέναι Σῖμον τὸν Θετταλὸν ἀφικόμενον Ἀθήναζε εἰς τὰ Παναθήναια τὰ μεγάλα, καὶ μετʼ αὐτοῦ Νικαρέτην καὶ Νέαιραν τὴν νυνὶ ἀγωνιζομένην· καὶ κατάγεσθαι αὐτοὺς παρὰ Κτησίππῳ τῷ Γλαυκωνίδου, καὶ συμπίνειν μετʼ αὐτῶν Νέαιραν ὡς ἑταίραν οὖσαν καὶ ἄλλων πολλῶν παρόντων καὶ συμπινόντων παρὰ Κτησίππῳ.

[¶23] 26. After this, you must know, she plied her trade openly in Corinth and was quite a celebrity, having among other lovers Xenocleides the poet, and Hipparchus the actor, who kept her on hire. To prove the truth of my statement I cannot bring before you the testimony of Xenocleides, since the laws do not permit him to testify.

> Greek: 26. μετὰ ταῦτα τοίνυν ἐν τῇ Κορίνθῳ αὐτῆς ἐπιφανῶς ἐργαζομένης καὶ οὔσης λαμπρᾶς ἄλλοι τε ἐρασταὶ γίγνονται καὶ Ξενοκλείδης ὁ ποιητὴς καὶ Ἵππαρχος ὁ ὑποκριτής, καὶ εἶχον αὐτὴν μεμισθωμένοι. καὶ ὅτι ἀληθῆ λέγω, τοῦ μὲν Ξενοκλείδου οὐκ ἂν δυναίμην ὑμῖν μαρτυρίαν παρασχέσθαι·

[¶24] 27. For when on the advice of Callistratus you undertook to aid the Lacedaemonians, he at that time opposed in the assembly the vote to do so, because he had purchased the right to collect the two per cent tax on grain during the peace, and was obliged to deposit his collections in the senate-chamber during each prytany. For this he was entitled to exemption under the laws and did not go out on that expedition; but he was indicted by this man Stephanus for avoidance of military duty, and being slanderously maligned in the latter’s speech before the court, was convicted and deprived of his civic rights.

> Greek: 27. οὐ γὰρ ἐῶσιν αὐτὸν οἱ νόμοι μαρτυρεῖν· ὅτε γὰρ Λακεδαιμονίους ὑμεῖς ἐσῴζετε πεισθέντες ὑπὸ Καλλιστράτου, τότε ἀντειπὼν ἐν τῷ δήμῳ τῇ βοηθείᾳ, ἐωνημένος τὴν πεντηκοστὴν τοῦ σίτου ἐν εἰρήνῃ καὶ δέον αὐτὸν καταβάλλειν τὰς καταβολὰς εἰς τὸ βουλευτήριον κατὰ πρυτανείαν, καὶ οὔσης αὐτῷ ἀτελείας ἐκ τῶν νόμων οὐκ ἐξελθὼν ἐκείνην τὴν στρατείαν, γραφεὶς ὑπὸ Στεφάνου τουτουὶ ἀστρατείας καὶ διαβληθεὶς τῷ λόγῳ ἐν τῷ δικαστηρίῳ ἑάλω καὶ ἠτιμώθη.

[¶25] 28. And yet do you not count it a monstrous thing that this Stephanus has taken the right of free speech from those who are native-born citizens and are lawful members of our commonwealth, and in defiance of all the laws forces upon you as Athenians those who have no such right? I will, however, call Hipparchus himself and force him either to give testimony or take the oath of disclaimer, or I will subpoena him. (To the clerk.) Please call Hipparchus. The Deposition “Hipparchus of Athmonon deposes that Xenocleides and he hired in Corinth Neaera, the present defendant, as a courtesan who prostituted herself for money, and that Neaera used to drink at Corinth in the company of himself and Xenocleides the poet.”

> Greek: 28. καίτοι πῶς οὐκ οἴεσθε δεινὸν εἶναι, εἰ τοὺς μὲν φύσει πολίτας καὶ γνησίως μετέχοντας τῆς πόλεως ἀπεστέρηκε τῆς παρρησίας Στέφανος οὑτοσί, τοὺς δὲ μηδὲν προσήκοντας βιάζεται Ἀθηναίους εἶναι παρὰ πάντας τοὺς νόμους; τὸν δʼ Ἵππαρχον αὐτὸν ὑμῖν καλῶ, καὶ ἀναγκάσω μαρτυρεῖν ἢ ἐξόμνυσθαι κατὰ τὸν νόμον, ἢ κλητεύσω αὐτόν. καί μοι κάλει Ἵππαρχον. ΜΑΡΤΥΡΙΑ. Ἵππαρχος Ἀθμονεὺς μαρτυρεῖ Ξενοκλείδην καὶ αὑτὸν μισθώσασθαι Νέαιραν ἐν Κορίνθῳ τὴν νῦν ἀγωνιζομένην, ὡς ἑταίραν οὖσαν τῶν μισθαρνουσῶν, καὶ συμπίνειν ἐν Κορίνθῳ Νέαιραν μεθʼ αὑτοῦ καὶ Ξενοκλείδου τοῦ ποιητοῦ.

[¶26] 29. After this, then, she had two lovers, Timanoridas the Corinthian and Eucrates the Leucadian. These men seeing that Nicaretê was extravagant in the sums she exacted from them, for she demanded that they should supply the entire daily expenses of the household, paid down to Nicaretê thirty minae as the price of Neaera’s person, and purchased the girl outright from her in accordance with the law of the city, to be their slave.

> Greek: 29. μετὰ ταῦτα τοίνυν αὐτῆς γίγνονται ἐρασταὶ δύο, Τιμανορίδας τε ὁ Κορίνθιος καὶ Εὐκράτης ὁ Λευκάδιος, οἳ ἐπειδήπερ πολυτελὴς ἦν ἡ Νικαρέτη τοῖς ἐπιτάγμασιν, ἀξιοῦσα τὰ καθʼ ἡμέραν ἀναλώματα ἅπαντα τῇ οἰκίᾳ παρʼ αὐτῶν λαμβάνειν, κατατιθέασιν αὐτῆς τιμὴν τριάκοντα μνᾶς τοῦ σώματος τῇ Νικαρέτῃ, καὶ ὠνοῦνται αὐτὴν παρʼ αὐτῆς νόμῳ πόλεως καθάπαξ αὑτῶν δούλην εἶναι. καὶ εἶχον καὶ ἐχρῶντο ὅσον ἐβούλοντο αὐτῇ χρόνον.

[¶27] 30. And they kept her and made use of her as long a time as they pleased. When, however, they were about to marry, they gave her notice that they did not want to see her, who had been their own mistress, plying her trade in Corinth or living under the control of a brothel-keeper; but that they would be glad to recover from her less than they had paid down, and to see her reaping some advantage for herself. They offered, therefore, to remit one thousand drachmae toward the price of her freedom, five hundred drachmae apiece; and they bade her, when she found the means, to pay them the twenty minae. When she heard this proposal from Eucrates and Timanoridas, she summoned to Corinth among others who had been her lovers Phrynion of Paeania, the son of Demon and the brother of Demochares, a man who was living a licentious and extravagant life, as the older ones among you remember.

> Greek: 30. μέλλοντες δὲ γαμεῖν, προαγορεύουσιν αὐτῇ, ὅτι οὐ βούλονται αὐτὴν σφῶν αὐτῶν ἑταίραν γεγενημένην ὁρᾶν ἐν Κορίνθῳ ἐργαζομένην οὐδʼ ὑπὸ πορνοβοσκῷ οὖσαν, ἀλλʼ ἡδέως ἂν αὑτοῖς εἴη ἔλαττόν τε τἀργύριον κομίσασθαι παρʼ αὐτῆς ἢ κατέθεσαν, καὶ αὐτὴν ταύτην ὁρᾶν τι ἀγαθὸν ἔχουσαν. ἀφιέναι οὖν αὐτῇ ἔφασαν εἰς ἐλευθερίαν χιλίας δραχμάς, πεντακοσίας ἑκάτερος· τὰς δʼ εἴκοσι μνᾶς ἐκέλευον αὐτὴν ἐξευροῦσαν αὑτοῖς ἀποδοῦναι. ἀκούσασα δʼ αὕτη τοὺς λόγους τούτους τοῦ τε Εὐκράτους καὶ Τιμανορίδου, μεταπέμπεται εἰς τὴν Κόρινθον ἄλλους τε τῶν ἐραστῶν τῶν γεγενημένων αὐτῇ καὶ Φρυνίωνα τὸν Παιανιέα, Δήμωνος μὲν ὄντα υἱόν, Δημοχάρους δὲ ἀδελφόν, ἀσελγῶς δὲ καὶ πολυτελῶς διάγοντα τὸν βίον, ὡς ὑμῶν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι μνημονεύουσιν.

[¶28] 31. When Phrynion came to her, she told him the proposal which Eucrates and Timanoridas had made to her, and gave him the money which she had collected from her other lovers as a contribution toward the price of her freedom, and added whatever she had gained for herself, and she begged him to advance the balance needed to make up the twenty minae, and to pay it to Eucrates and Timanoridas to secure her freedom.

> Greek: 31. ἀφικομένου δʼ ὡς αὐτὴν τοῦ Φρυνίωνος, λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν τοὺς λόγους οὓς εἶπον πρὸς αὐτὴν ὅ τε Εὐκράτης καὶ Τιμανορίδας, καὶ δίδωσιν αὐτῷ τὸ ἀργύριον ὃ παρὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἐραστῶν ἐδασμολόγησεν ἔρανον εἰς τὴν ἐλευθερίαν συλλέγουσα, καὶ εἴ τι ἄρα αὐτὴ περιεποιήσατο, καὶ δεῖται αὐτοῦ προσθέντα τὸ ἐπίλοιπον, οὗ προσέδει εἰς τὰς εἴκοσι μνᾶς, καταθεῖναι αὑτῆς τῷ τε Εὐκράτει καὶ τῷ Τιμανορίδᾳ ὥστε ἐλευθέραν εἶναι.

[¶29] 32. He listened gladly to these words of hers, and taking the money which had been paid in to her by her other lovers added the balance himself and paid the twenty minae as the price of her freedom to Eucrates and Timanoridas on the condition that she should not ply her trade in Corinth. To prove that these statements of mine are true, I will call as witness to them the man who was present. (To the clerk.) Please call Philagrus of Melitê. The Deposition “Philagrus of Melitê deposes that he was present in Corinth when Phrynion, the brother of Demochares, paid down twenty minae as the price of Neaera, the present defendant, to Timanoridas, the Corinthian, and Eucrates, the Leucadian; and that after paying down the money Phrynion went off to Athens, taking Neaera with him.”

> Greek: 32. ἅσμενος δʼ ἀκούσας ἐκεῖνος τοὺς λόγους τούτους αὐτῆς, καὶ λαβὼν τἀργύριον ὃ παρὰ τῶν ἐραστῶν τῶν ἄλλων εἰσηνέχθη αὐτῇ, καὶ προσθεὶς τὸ ἐπίλοιπον αὐτός, κατατίθησιν αὐτῆς τὰς εἴκοσι μνᾶς τῷ Εὐκράτει καὶ τῷ Τιμανορίδᾳ ἐπʼ ἐλευθερίᾳ καὶ ἐφʼ ᾧ ἐν Κορίνθῳ μὴ ἐργάζεσθαι. καὶ ὅτι ταῦτʼ ἀληθῆ λέγω, τούτων ὑμῖν τὸν παραγενόμενον μάρτυρα καλῶ. καί μοι κάλει Φίλαγρον Μελιτέα. ΜΑΡΤΥΡΙΑ. Φίλαγρος Μελιτεὺς μαρτυρεῖ παρεῖναι ἐν Κορίνθῳ, ὅτε Φρυνίων ὁ Δημοχάρους ἀδελφὸς κατετίθει εἴκοσι μνᾶς Νεαίρας τῆς νῦν ἀγωνιζομένης Τιμανορίδᾳ τῷ Κορινθίῳ καὶ Εὐκράτει τῷ Λευκαδίῳ, καὶ καταθεὶς τὸ ἀργύριον ᾤχετο ἀπάγων Ἀθήναζε Νέαιραν.

[¶30] 33. When he came back here, bringing her with him, he treated her without decency or restraint, taking her everywhere with him to dinners where there was drinking and making her a partner in his revels; and he had intercourse with her openly whenever and wherever he wished, making his privilege a display to the onlookers. He took her to many houses to gay parties and among them to that of Chabrias of Aexonê, when, in the archonship of Socratidas, he was victor at the Pythian games with the four-horse chariot which he had bought from the sons of Mitys, the Argive, and returning from Delphi he gave a feast at Colias, to celebrate his victory, and in that place many had intercourse with her when she was drunk, while Phrynion was asleep, among them even the serving-men of Chabrias.

> Greek: 33. ἀφικόμενος τοίνυν δεῦρο ἔχων αὐτὴν ἀσελγῶς καὶ προπετῶς ἐχρῆτο αὐτῇ, καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ δεῖπνα ἔχων αὐτὴν πανταχοῖ ἐπορεύετο ὅπου πίνοι, ἐκώμαζέ τʼ ἀεὶ μετʼ αὐτοῦ, συνῆν τʼ ἐμφανῶς ὁπότε βουληθείη πανταχοῦ, φιλοτιμίαν τὴν ἐξουσίαν πρὸς τοὺς ὁρῶντας ποιούμενος. καὶ ὡς ἄλλους τε πολλοὺς ἐπὶ κῶμον ἔχων ἦλθεν αὐτὴν καὶ ὡς Χαβρίαν τὸν Αἰξωνέα, ὅτε ἐνίκα ἐπὶ Σωκρατίδου ἄρχοντος τὰ Πύθια τῷ τεθρίππῳ ὃ ἐπρίατο παρὰ τῶν παίδων τῶν Μίτυος τοῦ Ἀργείου, καὶ ἥκων ἐκ Δελφῶν εἱστία τὰ ἐπινίκια ἐπὶ Κωλιάδι. καὶ ἐκεῖ ἄλλοι τε πολλοὶ συνεγίγνοντο αὐτῇ μεθυούσῃ καθεύδοντος τοῦ Φρυνίωνος, καὶ οἱ διάκονοι οἱ Χαβρίου τράπεζαν παραθέμενοι.

[¶31] 34. To prove that these statements of mine are true, I will bring before you as witnesses those who were present and saw for themselves. (To the clerk.) Please call Chionides of Xypetê and Euthetion of Cydathenaeum. The Depositions “Chionides of Xypetê and Euthetion of Cydathenaeum depose that they were invited to dinner by Chabrias, when he celebrated with a banquet his victory in the chariot race, and that the banquet was held at Colias; and that they know that Phrynion was present at the banquet, having with him Neaera, the present defendant; that they themselves lay down to sleep, as did Phrynion and Neaera, and that they observed that men got up in the night to go in to Neaera, among them some of the serving-men who were household slaves of Chabrias.”

> Greek: 34. καὶ ὅτι ταῦτʼ ἀληθῆ λέγω, τοὺς ὁρῶντας ὑμῖν καὶ παρόντας μάρτυρας παρέξομαι. καί μοι κάλει Χιωνίδην Ξυπεταιόνα καὶ Εὐθετίωνα Κυδαθηναιᾶ. ΜΑΡΤΥΡΙΑ. Χιωνίδης Ξυπεταιών, Εὐθετίων Κυδαθηναιεὺς μαρτυροῦσι κληθῆναι ὑπὸ Χαβρίου ἐπὶ δεῖπνον, ὅτε τὰ ἐπινίκια εἱστία Χαβρίας τῆς νίκης τοῦ ἅρματος, καὶ ἑστιᾶσθαι ἐπὶ Κωλιάδι, καὶ εἰδέναι Φρυνίωνα παρόντα ἐν τῷ δείπνῳ τούτῳ ἔχοντα Νέαιραν τὴν νυνὶ ἀγωνιζομένην, καὶ καθεύδειν σφᾶς αὐτοὺς καὶ Φρυνίωνα καὶ Νέαιραν, καὶ αἰσθάνεσθαι αὐτοὶ ἀνισταμένους τῆς νυκτὸς πρὸς Νέαιραν ἄλλους τε καὶ τῶν διακόνων τινάς, οἳ ἦσαν Χαβρίου οἰκέται.

[¶32] 35. Since, then, she was treated with wanton outrage by Phrynion, and was not loved as she expected to be, and since her wishes were not granted by him, she packed up his household goods and all the clothing and jewelry with which he had adorned her person, and, taking with her two maid-servants, Thratta and Coccalinêe, ran off to Megara. This was the period when Asteius was archon at Athens, at the time you were waging your second war against the Lacedaemonians.

> Greek: 35. ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν ἀσελγῶς προὐπηλακίζετο ὑπὸ τοῦ Φρυνίωνος καὶ οὐχ ὡς ᾤετο ἠγαπᾶτο, οὐδʼ ὑπηρέτει αὐτῇ ἃ ἐβούλετο, συσκευασαμένη αὐτοῦ τὰ ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας καὶ ὅσα ἦν αὐτῇ ὑπʼ ἐκείνου περὶ τὸ σῶμα κατεσκευασμένα ἱμάτια καὶ χρυσία, καὶ θεραπαίνας δύο, Θρᾷτταν καὶ Κοκκαλίνην, ἀποδιδράσκει εἰς Μέγαρα. ἦν δὲ ὁ χρόνος οὗτος ᾧ Ἀστεῖος μὲν ἦν ἄρχων Ἀθήνησιν, ὁ καιρὸς δʼ ἐν ᾧ ἐπολεμεῖθʼ ὑμεῖς πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους τὸν ὕστερον πόλεμον.

[¶33] 36. She remained at Megara two years, that of the archonship of Asteius and that of Alcisthenes; but the trade of prostitution did not bring in enough money to maintain her establishment—she was lavish in her tastes, and the Megarians were niggardly and illiberal, and there were but few foreigners there on account of the war and because the Megarians favored the Lacedaemonian side, while you were in control of the sea; it was, however, not open to her to return to Corinth, because she had got her freedom from Eucrates and Timanoridas on the condition that she would not ply her trade in Corinth;— so, when peace was made in the archonship of Phrasicleides, and the battle was fought at Leuctra between the Thebans and the Lacedaemonians, this man Stephanus, having at the time come to Megara and having put up at Neaera’s house, as at the house of a courtesan, and having had intercourse with her, she told him all that had taken place and her brutal treatment by Phrynion. She gave him besides all that she had brought away from Phrynion’s house, and as she was eager to live at Athens, but was afraid of Phrynion because she had wronged him and he was bitter against her, and she knew he was a man of violent and reckless temper, she took Stephanus here for her patron.

> Greek: 36. διατρίψασα δʼ ἐν τοῖς Μεγάροις δύʼ ἔτη, τόν τʼ ἐπʼ Ἀστείου ἄρχοντος καὶ Ἀλκισθένους ἐνιαυτόν, ὡς αὐτῇ ἡ ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος ἐργασία οὐχ ἱκανὴν εὐπορίαν παρεῖχεν ὥστε διοικεῖν τὴν οἰκίαν, (πολυτελὴς δʼ ἦν, οἱ Μεγαρεῖς δʼ ἀνελεύθεροι καὶ μικρολόγοι, ξένων δὲ οὐ πάνυ ἐπιδημία ἦν αὐτόθι διὰ τὸ πόλεμον εἶναι καὶ τοὺς ⟨μὲν⟩ Μεγαρέας λακωνίζειν, τῆς δὲ θαλάττης ὑμᾶς ἄρχειν· εἰς δὲ τὴν Κόρινθον οὐκ ἐξῆν αὐτῇ ἐπανελθεῖν διὰ τὸ ἐπὶ τούτῳ ἀπηλλάχθαι ἀπὸ τοῦ Εὐκράτους καὶ τοῦ Τιμανορίδου, ὥστʼ ἐν Κορίνθῳ μὴ ἐργάζεσθαι), ὡς οὖν γίγνεται ἡ εἰρήνη ἡ ἐπὶ Φρασικλείδου ἄρχοντος καὶ ἡ μάχη ἡ ἐν Λεύκτροις Θηβαίων καὶ Λακεδαιμονίων, τότε ἐπιδημήσαντα Στέφανον τουτονὶ εἰς τὰ Μέγαρα καὶ καταγόμενον ὡς αὐτὴν ἑταίραν οὖσαν καὶ πλησιάσαντα αὐτῇ, διηγησαμένη πάντα τὰ πεπραγμένα καὶ τὴν ὕβριν τοῦ Φρυνίωνος, καὶ ἐπιδοῦσα ἃ ἐξῆλθεν ἔχουσα παρʼ αὐτοῦ, ἐπιθυμοῦσα μὲν τῆς ἐνθάδε οἰκήσεως, φοβουμένη δὲ τὸν Φρυνίωνα διὰ τὸ ἠδικηκέναι μὲν αὐτή, ἐκεῖνον δὲ ὀργίλως ἔχειν αὐτῇ, σοβαρὸν δὲ καὶ ὀλίγωρον εἰδυῖα αὐτοῦ τὸν τρόπον ὄντα, προΐσταται Στέφανον τουτονὶ αὑτῆς.

[¶34] 38. He on his part encouraged her there in Megara with confident words, boastfully asserting that if Phrynion should lay hands on her he would have cause to rue it, whereas he himself would keep her as his wife and would introduce the sons whom she then had to his clansmen as being his own, and would make them citizens; and he promised that no one in the world should harm her. So he brought her with him from Megara to Athens, and with her her three children, Proxenus and Ariston and a daughter whom they now call Phano.

> Greek: 38. ἐπάρας δὲ αὐτὴν οὗτος ἐν τοῖς Μεγάροις τῷ λόγῳ καὶ φυσήσας, ὡς κλαύσοιτο ὁ Φρυνίων εἰ ἅψοιτο αὐτῆς, αὐτὸς δὲ γυναῖκα αὐτὴν ἕξων, τούς τε παῖδας τοὺς ὄντας αὐτῇ τότε εἰσάξων εἰς τοὺς φράτερας ὡς αὑτοῦ ὄντας καὶ πολίτας ποιήσων, ἀδικήσει δὲ οὐδεὶς ἀνθρώπων, ἀφικνεῖται αὐτὴν ἔχων δεῦρο ἐκ τῶν Μεγάρων, καὶ παιδία μετʼ αὐτῆς τρία, Πρόξενον καὶ Ἀρίστωνα καὶ θυγατέρα, ἣν νυνὶ Φανὼ καλοῦσιν·

[¶35] 39. He established her and her children in the cottage which he had near the Whispering Hermes between the house of Dorotheus the Eleusinian and that of Cleinomachus—the cottage which Spintharus has now bought from him for seven minae; so the property which Stephanus owned was just this and nothing besides. There were two reasons why he brought her here: first, because he would have a beautiful mistress without cost, and secondly, because her earnings would procure supplies and maintain the house; for he had no other income save what he might get by pettifoggery.

> Greek: 39. καὶ εἰσάγει αὐτὴν καὶ τὰ παιδία εἰς τὸ οἰκίδιον ὃ ἦν αὐτῷ παρὰ τὸν ψιθυριστὴν Ἑρμῆν, μεταξὺ τῆς Δωροθέου τοῦ Ἐλευσινίου οἰκίας καὶ τῆς Κλεινομάχου, ἣν νυνὶ Σπίνθαρος παρʼ αὐτοῦ ἐώνηται ἑπτὰ μνῶν. ὥστε ἡ μὲν ὑπάρχουσα Στεφάνῳ οὐσία αὕτη ἦν καὶ ἄλλο οὐδέν· δυοῖν δʼ ἕνεκα ἦλθεν ἔχων αὐτήν, ὡς ἐξ ἀτελείας τε ἕξων καλὴν ἑταίραν, καὶ τὰ ἐπιτήδεια ταύτην ἐργασομένην καὶ θρέψουσαν τὴν οἰκίαν· οὐ γὰρ ἦν αὐτῷ ἄλλη πρόσοδος, ὅ τι μὴ συκοφαντήσας τι λάβοι.

[¶36] 40. Phrynion, however, learned that the woman was in Athens, and was living with Stephanus, and taking some young men with him he came to the house of Stephanus and attempted to carry her off. When Stephanus took her away from him, as the law allowed, declaring her to be a free woman, Phrynion required her to post bonds with the polemarch. To prove that this statement is true, I will bring before you as a witness to these facts the man himself who was polemarch at the time. (To the clerk.) Please call Aeetes of Ceiriadae. The Deposition “Aeetes of Ceiriadae deposes that while he was polemarch, Neaera, the present defendant, was required by Phrynion, the brother of Demochares, to post bonds, and that the sureties of Neaera were Stephanus of Eroeadae, Glaucetes of Cephisia, and Aristocrates of Phalerum.”

> Greek: 40. πυθόμενος δὲ ὁ Φρυνίων ἐπιδημοῦσαν αὐτὴν καὶ οὖσαν παρὰ τούτῳ, παραλαβὼν νεανίσκους μεθʼ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ ἐλθὼν ἐπὶ τὴν οἰκίαν τὴν τοῦ Στεφάνου ἦγεν αὐτήν. ἀφαιρουμένου δὲ τοῦ Στεφάνου κατὰ τὸν νόμον εἰς ἐλευθερίαν, κατηγγύησεν αὐτὴν πρὸς τῷ πολεμάρχῳ. καὶ ὡς ἀληθῆ λέγω, τούτων αὐτὸν μάρτυρα ὑμῖν τὸν τότε πολέμαρχον παρέξομαι. καί μοι κάλει Αἰήτην Κειριάδην. ΜΑΡΤΥΡΙΑ. Αἰήτης Κειριάδης μαρτυρεῖ πολεμαρχοῦντος αὑτοῦ κατεγγυηθῆναι Νέαιραν τὴν νυνὶ ἀγωνιζομένην ὑπὸ Φρυνίωνος τοῦ Δημοχάρους ἀδελφοῦ, καὶ ἐγγυητὰς γενέσθαι Νεαίρας Στέφανον Ἐροιάδην, Γλαυκέτην Κηφισιέα, Ἀριστοκράτην Φαληρέα.

[¶37] 41. Now that Stephanus had become surety for her, and seeing that she was living at his house, she continued to carry on the same trade no less than before, but she charged higher fees from those who sought her favors as being now a respectable woman living with her husband. Stephanus, on his part, joined with her in extorting blackmail. If he found as a lover of Neaera any young alien rich and without experience, he would lock him up as caught in adultery with her, and would extort a large sum of money from him.

> Greek: 41. διεγγυηθεῖσα δʼ ὑπὸ Στεφάνου καὶ οὖσα παρὰ τούτῳ τὴν μὲν αὐτὴν ἐργασίαν οὐδὲν ἧττον ἢ πρότερον ἠργάζετο, τοὺς δὲ μισθοὺς μείζους ἐπράττετο τοὺς βουλομένους αὐτῇ πλησιάζειν, ὡς ἐπὶ προσχήματος ἤδη τινὸς οὖσα καὶ ἀνδρὶ συνοικοῦσα. συνεσυκοφάντει δὲ καὶ οὗτος, εἴ τινα ξένον ἀγνῶτα πλούσιον λάβοι ἐραστὴν αὐτῆς, ὡς μοιχὸν ἐπʼ αὐτῇ ἔνδον ἀποκλείων καὶ ἀργύριον πραττόμενος πολύ, εἰκότως·

[¶38] 42. And this course was natural enough; for neither Stephanus nor Neaera had any property to supply funds for their daily expenditures, and the expenses of their establishment were large; for they had to support both him and her and three children whom she had brought with her, and two female servants and a male house-servant; and besides Neaera had become accustomed to live comfortably, since heretofore others had provided the cost of her maintenance.

> Greek: 42. οὐσία μὲν γὰρ οὐχ ὑπῆρχεν Στεφάνῳ οὐδὲ Νεαίρᾳ, ὥστε τὰ καθʼ ἡμέραν ἀναλώματα δύνασθαι ὑποφέρειν, ἡ δὲ διοίκησις συχνή, ὁπότʼ ἔδει τοῦτόν τε καὶ αὑτὴν τρέφειν καὶ παιδάρια τρία, ἃ ἦλθεν ἔχουσα ὡς αὐτόν, καὶ θεραπαίνας δύο καὶ οἰκέτην διάκονον, ἄλλως τε καὶ μεμαθηκυῖα μὴ κακῶς ἔχειν τὰ ἐπιτήδεια ἑτέρων ἀναλισκόντων αὐτῇ τὸ πρότερον.

[¶39] 43. This fellow Stephanus was getting nothing worth mentioning from public business, for he was not yet a public speaker, but thus far merely a pettifogger, one of those who stand beside the platform and shout, who prefer indictments and informations for hire, and who let their names be inscribed on motions made by others, up to the day when he became an underling of Callistratus of Aphidna. How this came about and for what cause I will tell you in detail regarding this matter also, when I shall have proved regarding this woman Neaera that she is an alien and is guilty of grievous wrongs against you and of impiety towards the gods; for I would have you know that Stephanus himself deserves to pay no less heavy a penalty than Neaera here, but even one far heavier, and that he is far more guilty, seeing that, while professing to be an Athenian, he treats you and your laws and the gods with such utter contempt that he cannot bring himself to keep quiet even for shame at the wrongs he has himself committed, but by bringing baseless charges against me and against others he has caused my colleague to bring against him and against this woman a charge so grievous that it necessitates inquiry being made into her origin, and his own profligacy being brought to light.

> Greek: 43. οὔτε γὰρ ἀπὸ τῆς πολιτείας προσῄει Στεφάνῳ τουτῳὶ ἄξιον λόγου· οὐ γάρ πω ἦν ῥήτωρ, ἀλλʼ ἔτι συκοφάντης τῶν παραβοώντων παρὰ τὸ βῆμα καὶ γραφομένων μισθοῦ καὶ φαινόντων καὶ ἐπιγραφομένων ταῖς ἀλλοτρίαις γνώμαις, ἕως ὑπέπεσε Καλλιστράτῳ τῷ Ἀφιδναίῳ· ἐξ ὅτου δὲ τρόπου καὶ διʼ ἣν αἰτίαν, ἐγὼ ὑμῖν καὶ περὶ τούτου διέξειμι, ἐπειδὰν περὶ ταυτησὶ Νεαίρας ἐπιδείξω ὡς ἔστι ξένη καὶ ὡς μεγάλα ὑμᾶς ἠδίκηκεν καὶ ὡς ἠσέβηκεν εἰς τοὺς θεούς, ἵνʼ εἰδῆτε ὅτι καὶ αὐτὸς οὗτος ἄξιός ἐστιν οὐκ ἐλάττω δοῦναι δίκην ἢ καὶ Νέαιρα αὑτηί, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολλῷ μείζω καὶ μᾶλλον, ὅσῳ Ἀθηναῖος φάσκων εἶναι οὕτω πολὺ τῶν νόμων καταπεφρόνηκεν καὶ ὑμῶν καὶ τῶν θεῶν, ὥστʼ οὐδʼ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἡμαρτημένων αὑτῷ αἰσχυνόμενος τολμᾷ ἡσυχίαν ἄγειν, ἀλλὰ συκοφαντῶν ἄλλους τε καὶ ἐμέ, τουτονὶ πεποίηκεν αὐτὸν καὶ ταύτην εἰς τηλικοῦ- τον ἀγῶνα καταστῆσαι, ὥστʼ ἐξετασθῆναι μὲν ταύτην ἥτις ἐστίν, ἐξελεγχθῆναι δὲ τὴν αὐτοῦ πονηρίαν.