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Trying Neaira: The True Story Of A Courtesan's Scandalous Life In Ancient Greece
Neaira grew up in a Corinthian brothel in the fourth century B.C., became a high-priced courtesan and a sex slave, then settled into a thirty-year relationship with Stephanos of Athens. But next she found herself in court, charged with transgressing Athens’s marriage laws. This book reconstructs the amazing facts of Neaira’s life and trial, illuminating the social, legal, and cultural worlds of ancient Greece.
“Hamel’s treatment of this complicated story is outstanding . . . for its comprehensive [yet remarkably concise] presentation of the social and historical context of fourth-century Athens.”—Ingrid D. Rowland, New Republic
“[Trying Neaira] is an extraordinary tale, with more than an echo of Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha.”—Tom Holland, Daily Telegraph00
“A marvelous account of a fascinating series of events in the life of a Greek woman of the fourth century B.C. Hamel tells the tale with clarity and verve and, along the way, she teaches the reader a vast amount about Athenian society in the most interesting and entertaining way.”—Donald Kagan, Yale University
“Charmingly written (and) nicely illustrated. . . . Hamel’s account is engaging, accessible to nonexperts, and useful for courses on Athenian society.”—Choice
“As told by Debra Hamel, this true-life story offers an extraordinary window on a civilization that wasn’t half so rarefied in its interests or affections as we tend to assume.”—The Scotsman
“Hamel’s treatment of this complicated story is outstanding . . . for its comprehensive [yet remarkably concise] presentation of the social and historical context of fourth-century Athens.”—Ingrid D. Rowland, New Republic
“[Trying Neaira] is an extraordinary tale, with more than an echo of Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha.”—Tom Holland, Daily Telegraph00
“A marvelous account of a fascinating series of events in the life of a Greek woman of the fourth century B.C. Hamel tells the tale with clarity and verve and, along the way, she teaches the reader a vast amount about Athenian society in the most interesting and entertaining way.”—Donald Kagan, Yale University
“Charmingly written (and) nicely illustrated. . . . Hamel’s account is engaging, accessible to nonexperts, and useful for courses on Athenian society.”—Choice
“As told by Debra Hamel, this true-life story offers an extraordinary window on a civilization that wasn’t half so rarefied in its interests or affections as we tend to assume.”—The Scotsman
224 pages, Paperback
First published February 8, 2003
13 people are currently reading
198 people want to read
About the author
Debra Hamel
20 books11 followersDebra Hamel studied classics as an undergraduate at The Johns Hopkins University and again as a graduate student at Yale, where she specialized in ancient history. Since receiving her Ph.D. in 1996 she has published a number of scholarly articles and reviews as well as publications for a general audience, including several articles that have appeared in MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History.
Debra is the mother of two preternaturally attractive girls. She writes and blogs from her subterranean lair in North Haven, Connecticut.
Debra is the mother of two preternaturally attractive girls. She writes and blogs from her subterranean lair in North Haven, Connecticut.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 26, 2021
I read this for school, but it was a really good book and I would highly recommend it to anyone that would like to get a glimpse into the life of a woman living in ancient Greece.
The book follows Neaira, a slave and prostitute that is able to buy her freedom and eventually live life as a free woman. Then, when she is in her fifties, she is put on trial in an attempt to get revenge on the man she is living with. We get a full break down of the legal system of Athens, their xenophobic world view, the limited rights of women, and a lot more!
The book follows Neaira, a slave and prostitute that is able to buy her freedom and eventually live life as a free woman. Then, when she is in her fifties, she is put on trial in an attempt to get revenge on the man she is living with. We get a full break down of the legal system of Athens, their xenophobic world view, the limited rights of women, and a lot more!
October 10, 2017
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for Dr. William Robison's course, Women in European History:
Debra Hamel’s Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan’s Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece is an account of the trial of a former prostitute in an Athenian court. Most of the information in the book comes from the speech of Neaira’s prosecutor, Apollodoros, during the trial, as the accounts of Stephanos’s defense and of the verdict by the jury are unfortunately lost. By comparing Apollodoros’s claims against other sources regarding Athenian law, and by testing their internal consistency, Hamel attempts to delineate the truth behind the life of Neaira. The details of the trial offer the reader insight into the legal system and roles of women in Greece.
Neaira’s trial served as a pretext for Apollodoros’s pursuit of revenge against Stephanos. According to the argument of Apollodoros, Neaira was an alien living with Stephanos as his wife in violation of Athenian law. Regardless of whether Neaira and Stephanos could be construed to be husband and wife, it was clear that Stephanos cared for Neaira. Stephanos had taken legal action against Apollodoros in the past, and Apollodoros sought his vengeance by attacking Neaira through a legal suit, a practice sanctioned by Athenian custom (127).
As a child, Neaira grew up in a brothel belonging to Nikarete. Nikarete owned Neaira as a slave, but as Nikarete’s brothel was a relatively high-class institution for prostitution, Neaira’s life was probably better than that of the pornai, or street prostitutes, though not as free as that of the hetairai, or female companions. Due to the sequestering of respectable women from the male population, unmarried men usually had to rely upon prostitutes, rather than women of the same stature as themselves, for both companionship and sex. Those who pursued respectable women instead could face adultery charges and punishment by the women’s fathers or husbands, which could vary from paying reparations to being violated with a large radish (69-70).
Eventually, once Neaira was in her twenties, her desirability as a prostitute declined, and Nikarete sold her to Timanoridas and Eukrates, two of her regular customers. Surprisingly, the two peaceably enjoyed joint custody of Neaira for a year or so, after which they were ready to get married. Perhaps for the sake of their wives, but more likely out of financial necessity, the two allowed Neaira to buy her freedom. With money from a former client, Phrynion, she was able to pay the money her owners requested. Afterward, she came to live with him, but she was not pleased to effectively be his hetairai. She left his home for Megara, another prostitution center, but economic troubles made the polis a poorer place to live than she expected (42-43).
It was while Neaira was in Megara that she met Stephanos, who stayed with her and enjoyed the pleasures of her company, both sexual and personal. Stephanos offered Neaira a home in Athens along with safety from her former host, Phrynion. She accepted and took to living with Stephanos along with his three children. Apollodoros argued in the trial that these children were Neaira’s, but considering the lack of information about them in Neaira’s life up until she met Stephanos, (48-49) it is just as likely that they were Stephanos’s own children.
Stephanos earned money as a sycophant, one who prosecuted cases on behalf of third parties, though the extent of his ethically questionable prosecutions was likely exaggerated by Apollodoros, who also claimed that Stephanos ran his house as a brothel that extorted its clients through false adultery charges. Stephanos had privately settled with Phrynion for temporary joint custody of her, which may have led to the stories of their household’s lack of monogamy.
The controversy about this less-than-ideal family unit came with the marriages of Phano, the daughter of Stephanos. Phano’s first husband, Phrastor, illegally divorced her without paying back his dowry, claiming that Phano was an alien and the child of Neaira. After that, a moichos named Epainetos was caught with Phano and required to pay for his freedom, leading to a suit by Stephanos to recover the money. The great issue was Phano’s second marriage to Theogenes, king archon of Athens, and her performance of exclusively Athenian rites (104). When he discovered the issue of her previous marriage and potential alien status, Theogenes divorced Phano. Apollodoros, vengeful due to Stephanos’s sycophantic lawsuits against him, would soon use this same question of the children’s parentage to accuse Stephanos of an illegal marriage.
Hamel’s arguments appear to favor Neaira and Stephanos, downplaying accusations of scandalous behavior. Despite this leaning, Hamel must rely almost exclusively on the prosecutorial speech of Apollodoros for details about Neaira’s life, a source with an obvious bias against this opinion. The comparisons to other sources of Greek law, such as Demosthenes, help to call into question some of Apollodoros’s more outrageous claims and to flesh out the book’s references, both of which serve to reduce the prosecutorial bias. As this argument is one of few surviving sources on the subject, it is necessary for Hamel to take this approach in analysis, but the extent of refutation suggests a preference to disprove contentious claims by Apollodoros.
For the most part, Hamel’s reasoning is logical and well-supported, revealing the weaknesses in Apollodoros’s arguments. However, Hamel likely overcompensates in regard to some details, such as Neaira’s presumed monogamy with Stephanos. This would even support Apollodoros’s claims that Neaira lived as Stephanos’s wife, which was undermined by his claims that Stephanos ran his home as a brothel. However, considering Neaira’s background as a prostitute, her lack of legal status as Stephanos’s wife, and the period during which she was shared with Phrynion, the perception that Neaira lived as Stephanos’s wife may be assumptive.
Ultimately, the question at hand is whether or not Neaira broke the law by living as the wife of Stephanos. She was almost certainly an alien, but due to the points above, it could easily be construed that Neaira was as much like a hetairai to Stephanos as like a wife. She helped raise Stephanos’s children, but if she did not bear them, she could be considered merely a caretaker and not their actual mother. Ultimately, at least in accordance with the modern standard of proof, Neaira should have been found to be innocent.
Debra Hamel’s Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan’s Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece is an account of the trial of a former prostitute in an Athenian court. Most of the information in the book comes from the speech of Neaira’s prosecutor, Apollodoros, during the trial, as the accounts of Stephanos’s defense and of the verdict by the jury are unfortunately lost. By comparing Apollodoros’s claims against other sources regarding Athenian law, and by testing their internal consistency, Hamel attempts to delineate the truth behind the life of Neaira. The details of the trial offer the reader insight into the legal system and roles of women in Greece.
Neaira’s trial served as a pretext for Apollodoros’s pursuit of revenge against Stephanos. According to the argument of Apollodoros, Neaira was an alien living with Stephanos as his wife in violation of Athenian law. Regardless of whether Neaira and Stephanos could be construed to be husband and wife, it was clear that Stephanos cared for Neaira. Stephanos had taken legal action against Apollodoros in the past, and Apollodoros sought his vengeance by attacking Neaira through a legal suit, a practice sanctioned by Athenian custom (127).
As a child, Neaira grew up in a brothel belonging to Nikarete. Nikarete owned Neaira as a slave, but as Nikarete’s brothel was a relatively high-class institution for prostitution, Neaira’s life was probably better than that of the pornai, or street prostitutes, though not as free as that of the hetairai, or female companions. Due to the sequestering of respectable women from the male population, unmarried men usually had to rely upon prostitutes, rather than women of the same stature as themselves, for both companionship and sex. Those who pursued respectable women instead could face adultery charges and punishment by the women’s fathers or husbands, which could vary from paying reparations to being violated with a large radish (69-70).
Eventually, once Neaira was in her twenties, her desirability as a prostitute declined, and Nikarete sold her to Timanoridas and Eukrates, two of her regular customers. Surprisingly, the two peaceably enjoyed joint custody of Neaira for a year or so, after which they were ready to get married. Perhaps for the sake of their wives, but more likely out of financial necessity, the two allowed Neaira to buy her freedom. With money from a former client, Phrynion, she was able to pay the money her owners requested. Afterward, she came to live with him, but she was not pleased to effectively be his hetairai. She left his home for Megara, another prostitution center, but economic troubles made the polis a poorer place to live than she expected (42-43).
It was while Neaira was in Megara that she met Stephanos, who stayed with her and enjoyed the pleasures of her company, both sexual and personal. Stephanos offered Neaira a home in Athens along with safety from her former host, Phrynion. She accepted and took to living with Stephanos along with his three children. Apollodoros argued in the trial that these children were Neaira’s, but considering the lack of information about them in Neaira’s life up until she met Stephanos, (48-49) it is just as likely that they were Stephanos’s own children.
Stephanos earned money as a sycophant, one who prosecuted cases on behalf of third parties, though the extent of his ethically questionable prosecutions was likely exaggerated by Apollodoros, who also claimed that Stephanos ran his house as a brothel that extorted its clients through false adultery charges. Stephanos had privately settled with Phrynion for temporary joint custody of her, which may have led to the stories of their household’s lack of monogamy.
The controversy about this less-than-ideal family unit came with the marriages of Phano, the daughter of Stephanos. Phano’s first husband, Phrastor, illegally divorced her without paying back his dowry, claiming that Phano was an alien and the child of Neaira. After that, a moichos named Epainetos was caught with Phano and required to pay for his freedom, leading to a suit by Stephanos to recover the money. The great issue was Phano’s second marriage to Theogenes, king archon of Athens, and her performance of exclusively Athenian rites (104). When he discovered the issue of her previous marriage and potential alien status, Theogenes divorced Phano. Apollodoros, vengeful due to Stephanos’s sycophantic lawsuits against him, would soon use this same question of the children’s parentage to accuse Stephanos of an illegal marriage.
Hamel’s arguments appear to favor Neaira and Stephanos, downplaying accusations of scandalous behavior. Despite this leaning, Hamel must rely almost exclusively on the prosecutorial speech of Apollodoros for details about Neaira’s life, a source with an obvious bias against this opinion. The comparisons to other sources of Greek law, such as Demosthenes, help to call into question some of Apollodoros’s more outrageous claims and to flesh out the book’s references, both of which serve to reduce the prosecutorial bias. As this argument is one of few surviving sources on the subject, it is necessary for Hamel to take this approach in analysis, but the extent of refutation suggests a preference to disprove contentious claims by Apollodoros.
For the most part, Hamel’s reasoning is logical and well-supported, revealing the weaknesses in Apollodoros’s arguments. However, Hamel likely overcompensates in regard to some details, such as Neaira’s presumed monogamy with Stephanos. This would even support Apollodoros’s claims that Neaira lived as Stephanos’s wife, which was undermined by his claims that Stephanos ran his home as a brothel. However, considering Neaira’s background as a prostitute, her lack of legal status as Stephanos’s wife, and the period during which she was shared with Phrynion, the perception that Neaira lived as Stephanos’s wife may be assumptive.
Ultimately, the question at hand is whether or not Neaira broke the law by living as the wife of Stephanos. She was almost certainly an alien, but due to the points above, it could easily be construed that Neaira was as much like a hetairai to Stephanos as like a wife. She helped raise Stephanos’s children, but if she did not bear them, she could be considered merely a caretaker and not their actual mother. Ultimately, at least in accordance with the modern standard of proof, Neaira should have been found to be innocent.
September 9, 2025
Neiara was a prostitute, certainly a slave, in Cointh. Through a complex series of relationships with men, including one in which two shared her, she ended up with a man named Stephanos in Athens. Stepahnos and Apollodoros, who had long-standing hostility, ended up in a lawsuit in the 340s BCE. Neiara was at the center of the suit, which turned, in part, on whether he'd married her and whether his children were by an earlier wife, an Athenian citizen, or by Neiara, a foreigner, whose kids could not be citizens.
It's not quite right--though a bit salacious--to say Neiara was on trial; she wasn't, it was Stephanos. But her status was crucial to the assertions of each side. And because she was reputable, she is the only woman known by name in the large corpus of law speeches preserved from Athens. The purported scandal draws us in.
Hamel does a very nice job of teasing out what we can--and can't--know about Neiara's history, always cautious, keen;y aware that both sides may well be lying, and setting the case in its social, legal, and cultural context. Athenian protagonists at law did not have advocates, there were no judges in our sense, no disclosure; you could lie about whatever you thought you could get away with, as the only people you had to convince were the jury, numbering as many as 501, and who in all likelihood in a private case knew little or nothing about the circumstances and facts. That makes Hamel's job tough, but she accomplishes it well.
It's not quite right--though a bit salacious--to say Neiara was on trial; she wasn't, it was Stephanos. But her status was crucial to the assertions of each side. And because she was reputable, she is the only woman known by name in the large corpus of law speeches preserved from Athens. The purported scandal draws us in.
Hamel does a very nice job of teasing out what we can--and can't--know about Neiara's history, always cautious, keen;y aware that both sides may well be lying, and setting the case in its social, legal, and cultural context. Athenian protagonists at law did not have advocates, there were no judges in our sense, no disclosure; you could lie about whatever you thought you could get away with, as the only people you had to convince were the jury, numbering as many as 501, and who in all likelihood in a private case knew little or nothing about the circumstances and facts. That makes Hamel's job tough, but she accomplishes it well.
September 2, 2017
I shoul dhave paid attention. This was published by an academic press. It was dry and repetitive but I still managed to get a little something out of it. In fact, I would like to find a good piece of historical fiction based on Neaira's life. If there isn't one, I suggest someone write it because she has great potential as a main character in a novel.
July 5, 2021
I read this for fun and learned many interesting facts along the way. It was a bit repetitive in the second half and the ending was kind of disatisfying. I honestly think it would have been a 4 star book if the ending was given at the beginning as a disclaimer. However, I've already talked about facts I learned from this book on four different occasions so it is definitely worth the read.
November 18, 2023
Overly rambling. The author makes a lot of "because I say so" judgements on where primary material should be taken at face value or disregarded. And long-winded passages frustratingly keep ending with "we'll never know for sure." Maybe this would have worked as an article that stuck closely to established fact.
July 25, 2019
Αρκετά ενδιαφέρον βιβλίο!Πρόκειται για Μια μέλέτη μιας αρχαίας δίκης της εταίρας Νεαιρας στην αρχαία ελλαδα.Το πιο ενδιαφέρον ειναι οτι παρουσιάζουν γενικές αντιλήψεις που υπήρχαν στην τότε περίοδο..Ειναι απο τα βιβλία που χρειάζονται όρεξη για να τα μελετήσεις
February 11, 2020
Had to read for school, don’t recommend
December 28, 2020
Trying Neaira is just what one would NOT expect an historical nonfiction book to be: witty and easy to read, with little bizarre bits that one just MUST read out loud! Furthermore, her writing style is light and makes a normal dry subject (the ancient Athenian judicial system) interesting and comprehensible.
Neaira was a prostitute in the 4th century, who grew up in Corinth and eventually found herself in a stable relationship as the long-time mistress of an influential Athenian, Stephanos. Unfortunately, Stephanos had an equally influential enemy (or at least rival) Apollodoros. They battled back and forth in the courts, and eventually Apollodoros hit on a different way to attack Stephanos--through Neaira.
Athenian laws were quite strict about foreigners and allowed no intermarriage. Apollodoros set out to prove that Neaira was living with Stephanos as his wife, instead of as his mistress, and that their children were being given the rights of Athenian citizens--which, as Neaira's children, they never could be.
Using Apollodoros speech to the jury, Hamel recreates Neaira's life, while using other sources to fill out the story with interesting details about prostitution, jury duty, social customs and Athenian law.*
Hamel approaches Neaira's life (via the speech) as a detective would, piecing together bits, shifting out obvious falsehoods, and in the end presenting a surprising full picture of one woman's life.
This is an excellent book for anyone who is, or who is NOT, interested in ancient Athenian law. I, myself, had not the least curiosity in said subject and yet found myself fascinated, all the while being constantly entertained by her sly wit and bizarre trivia. I learned enough from this book to become quite interested in Athenian history and I feel it will have the same effect on any other casual historian.
*to qoute from the Preface:
Apollodoros'speech, inevitably hostile to Neaira, must be the principal source for her biography, though we will need very often to question and reject the information he provides. Where what he tells us is not inherently unlikely, however, or contradicted by other sources, and when lying about the issue under discussion would not have furthered the prosecution's case, we can feel reasonably confident about accepting Apollodoros'testimony. Fleshing out Neaira's story, too, will require frequent dips into other source material.
Neaira was a prostitute in the 4th century, who grew up in Corinth and eventually found herself in a stable relationship as the long-time mistress of an influential Athenian, Stephanos. Unfortunately, Stephanos had an equally influential enemy (or at least rival) Apollodoros. They battled back and forth in the courts, and eventually Apollodoros hit on a different way to attack Stephanos--through Neaira.
Athenian laws were quite strict about foreigners and allowed no intermarriage. Apollodoros set out to prove that Neaira was living with Stephanos as his wife, instead of as his mistress, and that their children were being given the rights of Athenian citizens--which, as Neaira's children, they never could be.
Using Apollodoros speech to the jury, Hamel recreates Neaira's life, while using other sources to fill out the story with interesting details about prostitution, jury duty, social customs and Athenian law.*
Hamel approaches Neaira's life (via the speech) as a detective would, piecing together bits, shifting out obvious falsehoods, and in the end presenting a surprising full picture of one woman's life.
This is an excellent book for anyone who is, or who is NOT, interested in ancient Athenian law. I, myself, had not the least curiosity in said subject and yet found myself fascinated, all the while being constantly entertained by her sly wit and bizarre trivia. I learned enough from this book to become quite interested in Athenian history and I feel it will have the same effect on any other casual historian.
*to qoute from the Preface:
Apollodoros'speech, inevitably hostile to Neaira, must be the principal source for her biography, though we will need very often to question and reject the information he provides. Where what he tells us is not inherently unlikely, however, or contradicted by other sources, and when lying about the issue under discussion would not have furthered the prosecution's case, we can feel reasonably confident about accepting Apollodoros'testimony. Fleshing out Neaira's story, too, will require frequent dips into other source material.
Read
April 11, 2010This was an interesting book that I read for my class as my project will be on Neaira's life. This book did not provide as much information on Neaira's life and was mostly about the trial. She was being tried for being the wife of a citizen of Athens. She was not a citizen and it was illegal for an Athenian to marry a non-citizen. The trial was more about the ongoing feud between the prosecutor, Apollodorus and Neaira's 'husband' and dealt with the complex proofs offered by Apollodorus to show first that she was not a citizen and that she was living as a wife, passing off what were possibly or possibly not her children also as citizens. Her life as a courtesan was mainly used to embarress her husband, Stephanos.
It was written in a more scholarly way then I would normally like if I had read this for enjoyment. Interestingly, the picture on the front of this edition (not on the library copy I had) is actually a painting of the courtesan Phryne who also was tried in court but for heresy. Famously, her defender finally ripped off her clothes and wowed the male judges so much with her beauty that they found her not guilty.
It was written in a more scholarly way then I would normally like if I had read this for enjoyment. Interestingly, the picture on the front of this edition (not on the library copy I had) is actually a painting of the courtesan Phryne who also was tried in court but for heresy. Famously, her defender finally ripped off her clothes and wowed the male judges so much with her beauty that they found her not guilty.
September 19, 2023
Neaira, a woman who defied societal norms and expectations in ancient Greece. Raised in a Corinthian brothel, she experienced the extremes of life, from being a high-priced courtesan to forming a long-term relationship with Stephanos of Athens.
However, Neaira's journey took a dramatic turn when she found herself facing a court trial, accused of violating Athens's marriage laws. This book skillfully reconstructs the fascinating details of Neaira's life and the complex legal and cultural landscapes of ancient Greece.
I used this book for one of my senior thesis in college. I found it to be a good resource on the ancient life of prostitution in Greece while being an entertaining read in itself. This book sheds light on the life of a remarkable woman who navigated a world filled with both privilege and adversity. It provides valuable insights into the social dynamics, legal intricacies, and cultural norms of ancient Greece, making it an enlightening read for history enthusiasts and those interested in the lives of extraordinary individuals who defied convention.
However, Neaira's journey took a dramatic turn when she found herself facing a court trial, accused of violating Athens's marriage laws. This book skillfully reconstructs the fascinating details of Neaira's life and the complex legal and cultural landscapes of ancient Greece.
I used this book for one of my senior thesis in college. I found it to be a good resource on the ancient life of prostitution in Greece while being an entertaining read in itself. This book sheds light on the life of a remarkable woman who navigated a world filled with both privilege and adversity. It provides valuable insights into the social dynamics, legal intricacies, and cultural norms of ancient Greece, making it an enlightening read for history enthusiasts and those interested in the lives of extraordinary individuals who defied convention.
October 10, 2007
I don't know why I was ever inclined to pick up this book, but it is a (presumably accurate) historical account of a courtesan's life in Ancient Greece. Because of a scandal involving the main character, we actually have enough information to piece together her life story, to an extent. The second half is more technical details of the trail that occurred and can be skipped if you are just hoping for a glimpse into Neaira's strange world.
Relatively short, illuminating, and educational. Detailed notes and citations.
Relatively short, illuminating, and educational. Detailed notes and citations.
February 3, 2009
A short, illuminating look at Greek life through the details of a courtesan's trial. Fairly detailed and provides a good look at the legal process, but not especially interesting or captivating. This book is a lot more history than story.
April 8, 2011
Nicely written and researched account of Neaira and the importance of the courts in continuing feuds in ancient Athens.
April 24, 2012
It was a very informative and readable book. There was some explicit content. It was required reading for a class.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews