Greek Texts & Translations

To prove that these statements of mine are true, call, please as witnesses those who were present with them, Eubulus of Probalinthus, ^note Diopeithes of Melitê, and Cteson of Cerameis. ^noteDeposition

Eubulus of Probalinthus, Diopeithes of Melitê, and Cteson of Cerameis, depose that after the reconciliation in the matter of Neaera was brought about between Phrynion and Stephanus they frequently dined with them and drank in the company of Neaera, the present defendant, both when Neaera was at the house of Stephanus and when she was at the house of Phrynion.

59.49I have, then, shown you in my argument, and the testimony of witnesses has proved: that Neaera was originally a slave, that she was twice sold, that she made her living by prostitution as a courtesan; that she ran away from Phrynion to Megara, and that on her return she was forced to give bonds as an alien before the polemarch. I wish now to show you that Stephanus here has himself given evidence against her, proving her to be an alien.

59.50The daughter of this woman Neaera, whom she brought with her as a small child to the house of Stephanus, and whom they then called Strybele, but now call Phano, was given in marriage by this fellow Stephanus as being his own daughter to an Athenian, Phrastor, of Aegilia ^note; and a marriage portion of thirty minae was given with her. When she came to the house of Phrastor, who was a laboring man and one who had acquired his means by frugal living, she did not know how to adjust herself to his ways, but sought to emulate her mother's habits and the dissolute manner of living in her house, having, I suppose, been brought up in such licentiousness. 59.51Phrastor, seeing that she was not a decent woman and that she was not minded to listen to his advice, and, further, having learned now beyond all question that she was the daughter, not of Stephanus, but of Neaera, and that he had been deceived in the first place at the time of the betrothal, when he had received her as the daughter, not of Neaera, but of Stephanus by an Athenian woman, whom he had married before he lived with Neaera—angered at all this and considering that he had been treated with outrage and hoodwinked, he put away the woman after living with her for about a year, she being pregnant at the time, and refused to pay back the marriage portion. 59.52Stephanus brought suit for alimony against him in the Odeum ^note in accordance with the law which enacts that, if a man puts away his wife, he must pay back the marriage portion or else pay interest on it at the rate of nine obols a month for each mina ^note; and that on the woman's behalf her guardian may sue him for alimony in the Odeum. Phrastor, on his part, preferred an indictment against Stephanus before the Thesmothetae, charging that he had betrothed to him, being an Athenian, the daughter of an alien woman as though she were his own. This was in accordance with the following law.

Read it, please.Law

If anyone shall give an alien woman in marriage to an Athenian man, representing her as being related to himself, 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. And anyone entitled to do so may indict such a person before the Thesmothetae, just as in the case of usurpation of citizenship.

59.53The clerk has read you the law in accordance with which this fellow Stephanus was indicted by Phrastor before the Thesmothetae. Stephanus, then, knowing that, if he were convicted of having given in marriage the daughter of an alien woman, he would be liable to the heaviest penalties, came to terms with Phrastor and relinquished his claim to marriage portion, and withdrew his action for alimony; and Phrastor on his part withdrew indictment from the Thesmothetae.

To prove that my statements are true, I will call before you as witness to these facts Phrastor himself, and will compel him to give testimony as the law commands.

59.54Please call Phrastor of Aegilia.Depostition

Phrastor of Aegilia deposes that, when he learned that Stephanus had given him in marriage a daughter of Neaera, representing that she was his own daughter, he lodged an indictment against him before the Thesmothetae, as the law provides, and drove the woman from his house, and ceased to live with her any longer; and that after Stephanus had brought suit against him in the Odeum for alimony, he made an arrangement with him on the terms that the indictment before the Thesmothetae should be withdrawn, and also the suit for alimony which Stephanus had brought against me.

59.55Now let me bring before you another deposition of Phrastor and his clansmen and the members of his gens, which proves that the defendant Neaera is an alien. Not long after Phrastor had sent away the daughter of Neaera, he fell sick. He got into a dreadful condition and became utterly helpless. There was an old quarrel between him and his own relatives, toward whom he cherished anger and hatred; and besides he was childless. Being cajoled, therefore, in his illness by the attentions of Neaera and her daughter—