Delphi Complete Works of Demosthenes

by Demosthenes

  [47] Such were the terms of the reconciliation effected by the arbitrators between Phrynion and Stephanus in regard to this woman Neaera.

  To prove that these statements of mine are true, the clerk shall read you the deposition regarding these matters.

  Please call Satyrus of Alopecê, Saurias of Lamptrae, and Aristogeiton of Acharnae.”Deposition

  Satyrus of Alopecê, Saurias of Lamptrae, and Diogeiton of Acharnae depose that, having been appointed arbitrators in the matter of Neaera, the present defendant, they brought about a reconciliation between Stephanus and Phrynion, and that the terms on which the reconciliation was brought about were such as Apollodorus produces.”“Terms of Reconciliation

  They have reconciled Phrynion and Stephanus on the following terms: that each of them shall keep Neaera at his house and have her at his disposal for an equal number of days in the month, unless they shall themselves agree upon some other arrangement.”

  [48] ὡς δ᾽ ἀπηλλαγμένοι ἦσαν, οἱ παρόντες ἑκατέρῳ ἐπὶ τῇ διαίτῃ καὶ τοῖς πράγμασιν, οἷον οἶμαι φιλεῖ γίγνεσθαι ἑκάστοτε, ἄλλως τε καὶ περὶ ἑταίρας οὔσης αὐτοῖς τῆς διαφορᾶς, ἐπὶ δεῖπνον ᾖσαν ὡς ἑκάτερον αὐτῶν, ὁπότε καὶ Νέαιραν ἔχοιεν, καὶ αὑτηὶ συνεδείπνει καὶ συνέπινεν ὡς ἑταίρα οὖσα. καὶ ὅτι ταῦτ᾽ ἀληθῆ λέγω, κάλει μοι μάρτυρας τοὺς συνόντας αὐτοῖς, Εὔβουλον Προβαλίσιον, Διοπείθην Μελιτέα, Κτήσωνα ἐκ Κεραμέων.”Μάρτυρες

  Εὔβουλος Προβαλίσιος, Διοπείθης Μελιτεύς, Κτήσων ἐκ Κεραμέων μαρτυροῦσιν, ἐπειδὴ αἱ διαλλαγαὶ ἐγένοντο αἱ περὶ Νεαίρας Φρυνίωνι καὶ Στεφάνῳ, πολλάκις συνδειπνῆσαι αὐτοῖς καὶ συμπίνειν μετὰ Νεαίρας τῆς νυνὶ ἀγωνιζομένης, καὶ ὁπότε παρὰ Στεφάνῳ εἴη Νέαιρα καὶ ὁπότε παρὰ Φρυνίωνι.”

  [48] When the reconciliation had been brought about, those who had assisted either party in the arbitration and the whole affair did just what I fancy is always done, especially when the quarrel is about a courtesan. They went to dine at the house of whichever of the two had Neaera in his keeping, and the woman dined and drank with them, as being a courtesan.

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

  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.”

  [49] ὅτι μὲν τοίνυν ἐξ ἀρχῆς δούλη ἦν καὶ ἐπράθη δὶς καὶ ἠργάζετο τῷ σώματι ὡς ἑταίρα οὖσα, καὶ ἀπέδρα τὸν Φρυνίωνα εἰς Μέγαρα, καὶ ἥκουσα κατηγγυήθη ὡς ξένη οὖσα πρὸς τῷ πολεμάρχῳ, τῷ τε λόγῳ ἀποφαίνω ὑμῖν καὶ μεμαρτύρηται. βούλομαι δ᾽ ὑμῖν καὶ αὐτὸν Στέφανον τουτονὶ ἐπιδεῖξαι καταμεμαρτυρηκότ᾽ αὐτῆς ὡς ἔστι ξένη.

  [49] I 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.

  [50] τὴν γὰρ θυγατέρα τὴν ταυτησὶ Νεαίρας, ἣν ἦλθεν ἔχουσα ὡς τουτονὶ παιδάριον μικρόν, ἣν τότε μὲν Στρυβήλην ἐκάλουν, νυνὶ δὲ Φανώ, ἐκδίδωσι Στέφανος οὑτοσὶ ὡς οὖσαν αὑτοῦ θυγατέρα ἀνδρὶ Ἀθηναίῳ Φράστορι Αἰγιλιεῖ, καὶ προῖκα ἐπ᾽ αὐτῇ δίδωσι τριάκοντα μνᾶς. ὡς δ᾽ ἦλθεν ὡς τὸν Φράστορα, ἄνδρα ἐργάτην καὶ ἀκριβῶς τὸν βίον συνειλεγμένον, οὐκ ἠπίστατο τοῖς τοῦ Φράστορος τρόποις ἀρέσκειν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐζήτει τὰ τῆς μητρὸς ἔθη καὶ τὴν παρ᾽ αὐτῇ ἀκολασίαν, ἐν τοιαύτῃ οἶμαι ἐξουσίᾳ τεθραμμένη.

  [50] The 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; 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.

  [51] ὁρῶν δὲ Φράστωρ αὐτὴν οὔτε κοσμίαν οὖσαν οὔτ᾽ ἐθέλουσαν αὑτοῦ ἀκροᾶσθαι, ἅμα δὲ καὶ πεπυσμένος σαφῶς ἤδη ὅτι Στεφάνου μὲν οὐκ εἴη θυγάτηρ, Νεαίρας δέ, τὸ δὲ πρῶτον ἐξηπατήθη, ὅτ᾽ ἠγγυᾶτο ὡς Στεφάνου θυγατέρα λαμβάνων καὶ οὐ Νεαίρας, ἀλλὰ τούτῳ ἐξ ἀστῆς αὐτὴν γυναικὸς οὖσαν πρότερον πρὶν ταύτῃ συνοικῆσαι, ὀργισθεὶς δ᾽ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἅπασιν, καὶ ὑβρίσθαι ἡγούμενος καὶ ἐξηπατῆσθαι, ἐκβάλλει τὴν ἄνθρωπον ὡς ἐνιαυτὸν συνοικήσας αὐτῇ, κυοῦσαν, καὶ τὴν προῖκα οὐκ ἀποδίδωσιν.

  [51] Phrastor, 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.

  [52] λαχόντος δὲ τοῦ Στεφάνου αὐτῷ δίκην σίτου εἰς Ὠιδεῖον κατὰ τὸν νόμον ὃς κελεύει, ἐὰν ἀποπέμπῃ τὴν γυναῖκα, ἀποδιδόναι τὴν προῖκα, ἐὰν δὲ μή, ἐπ᾽ ἐννέ᾽ ὀβολοῖς τοκοφορεῖν, καὶ σίτου εἰς Ὠιδεῖον εἶναι δικάσασθαι ὑπὲρ τῆς γυναικὸς τῷ κυρίῳ, γράφεται ὁ Φράστωρ Στέφανον τουτονὶ γραφὴν πρὸς τοὺς θεσμοθέτας, Ἀθηναίῳ ὄντι ξένης θυγατέρα αὐτῷ ἐγγυῆσαι ὡς αὑτῷ προσήκουσαν, κατὰ τὸν νόμον τουτονί. καί μοι ἀνάγνωθι αὐτόν.”Νόμος

  ἐὰν δέ τις ἐκδῷ ξένην γυναῖκα ἀνδρὶ Ἀθηναίῳ ὡς ἑαυτῷ προσήκουσαν, ἄτιμος ἔστω, καὶ ἡ οὐσία αὐτοῦ δημοσία ἔστω, καὶ τοῦ ἑλόντος τὸ τρίτον μέρος. γραφέ
σθων δὲ πρὸς τοὺς θεσμοθέτας οἷς ἔξεστιν, καθάπερ τῆς ξενίας.”

  [52] Stephanus brought suit for alimony against him in the Odeum 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; 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.”

  [53] τὸν μὲν τοίνυν νόμον ἀνέγνω ὑμῖν, καθ᾽ ὃν ἐγράφη Στέφανος οὑτοσὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ Φράστορος πρὸς τοὺς θεσμοθέτας. γνοὺς δ᾽ ὅτι κινδυνεύσει ἐξελεγχθεὶς ξένης θυγατέρα ἠγγυηκέναι καὶ ταῖς ἐσχάταις ζημίαις περιπεσεῖν, διαλλάττεται πρὸς τὸν Φράστορα καὶ ἀφίσταται τῆς προικός, καὶ τὴν δίκην τοῦ σίτου ἀνείλετο, καὶ ὁ Φράστωρ τὴν γραφὴν παρὰ τῶν θεσμοθετῶν. καὶ ὡς ἀληθῆ λέγω, τούτων ὑμῖν μάρτυρα αὐτὸν τὸν Φράστορα καλῶ, καὶ ἀναγκάσω μαρτυρεῖν κατὰ τὸν νόμον.

  [53] The 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.

  [54] κάλει μοι Φράστορα Αἰγιλιέα.”Μαρτυρία

  Φράστωρ Αἰγιλιεὺς μαρτυρεῖ, ἐπειδὴ ᾔσθετο Νεαίρας θυγατέρα ἐγγυήσαντα αὑτῷ Στέφανον ὡς ἑαυτοῦ οὖσαν θυγατέρα, γράψασθαι αὐτὸν γραφὴν πρὸς τοὺς θεσμοθέτας κατὰ τὸν νόμον, καὶ τὴν ἄνθρωπον ἐκβαλεῖν ἐκ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ οἰκίας καὶ οὐκέτι συνοικεῖν αὐτῇ, καὶ λαχόντος αὑτῷ Στεφάνου εἰς Ὠιδεῖον σίτου διαλύσασθαι πρὸς αὑτὸν Στέφανον, ὥστε τὴν γραφὴν ἀναιρεθῆναι παρὰ τῶν θεσμοθετῶν καὶ τὴν δίκην τοῦ σίτου ἣν ἔλαχεν ἐμοὶ Στέφανος.”

  [54] Please call Phrastor of Aegilia.”Deposition

  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.”

  [55] φέρε δὴ ὑμῖν καὶ ἑτέραν μαρτυρίαν παράσχωμαι τοῦ τε Φράστορος καὶ τῶν φρατέρων αὐτοῦ καὶ γεννητῶν, ὡς ἔστι ξένη Νέαιρα αὑτηί. οὐ πολλῷ χρόνῳ γὰρ ὕστερον ἢ ἐξέπεμψεν ὁ Φράστωρ τὴν τῆς Νεαίρας θυγατέρα, ἠσθένησε καὶ πάνυ πονηρῶς διετέθη καὶ εἰς πᾶσαν ἀπορίαν κατέστη. διαφορᾶς δ᾽ οὔσης αὐτῷ παλαιᾶς πρὸς τοὺς οἰκείους τοὺς αὑτοῦ καὶ ὀργῆς καὶ μίσους, πρὸς δὲ καὶ ἄπαις ὤν, ψυχαγωγούμενος ἐν τῇ ἀσθενείᾳ τῇ θεραπείᾳ τῇ ὑπό τε τῆς Νεαίρας καὶ τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐτῆς （ἐβάδιζον γὰρ πρὸς αὐτόν,

  [55] Now 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 —

  [56] ὡς ἠσθένει καὶ ἔρημος ἦν τοῦ θεραπεύσοντος τὸ νόσημα, τὰ πρόσφορα τῇ νόσῳ φέρουσαι καὶ ἐπισκοπούμεναι: ἴστε δήπου καὶ αὐτοὶ ὅσου ἀξία ἐστὶν γυνὴ ἐν ταῖς νόσοις, παροῦσα κάμνοντι ἀνθρώπῳ） ἐπείσθη δὴ τὸ παιδίον, ὃ ἔτεκεν ἡ θυγάτηρ ἡ Νεαίρας ταυτησὶ ὅτ᾽ ἐξεπέμφθη ὑπὸ τοῦ Φράστορος κυοῦσα, πυθομένου ὅτι οὐ Στεφάνου εἴη θυγάτηρ ἀλλὰ Νεαίρας, καὶ ὀργισθέντος ἐπὶ τῇ ἀπάτῃ, πάλιν λαβεῖν καὶ ποιήσασθαι υἱὸν αὑτοῦ,

  [56] they came while he lay sick and had no one to care for him, bringing him the medicines suited to his case and looking after his needs; and you know of yourselves what value a woman has in the sick-room, when she waits upon a man who is ill — well, he was induced to take back and adopt as his son the child whom the daughter of this woman Neaera had borne after she was sent away from his house in a state of pregnancy, after he had learned that she was the daughter, not of Stephanus, but of Neaera, and was angered at their deceit.

  [57] λογισμὸν ἀνθρώπινον καὶ εἰκότα λογιζόμενος, ὅτι πονηρῶς μὲν ἔχοι καὶ οὐ πολλὴ ἐλπὶς εἴη αὐτὸν περιγενήσεσθαι, τοῦ δὲ μὴ λαβεῖν τοὺς συγγενεῖς τὰ αὑτοῦ μηδ᾽ ἄπαις τετελευτηκέναι ἐποιήσατο τὸν παῖδα καὶ ἀνέλαβεν ὡς αὑτόν: ἐπεὶ ὅτι γε ὑγιαίνων οὐκ ἄν ποτε ἔπραξεν, μεγάλῳ τεκμηρίῳ καὶ περιφανεῖ ἐγὼ ὑμῖν ἐπιδείξω.

  [57] His reasoning in the matter was both natural and to be expected. He was in a precarious condition and there was not much hope that he would recover. He did not wish his relatives to get his property nor himself to die childless, so he adopted this boy and received him back into his house. That he would never have done this, if he had been in good health, I will show you by a strong and convincing proof.

  [58] ὡς γὰρ ἀνέστη τάχιστα ἐξ ἐκείνης τῆς ἀσθενείας ὁ Φράστωρ καὶ ἀνέλαβεν αὑτὸν καὶ ἔσχεν ἐπιεικῶς τὸ σῶμα, λαμβάνει γυναῖκα ἀστὴν κατὰ τοὺς νόμους, Σατύρου μὲν τοῦ Μελιτέως θυγατέρα γνησίαν, Διφίλου δὲ ἀδελφήν. ὥστε ὅτι μὲν οὐχ ἑκὼν ἀνεδέξατο τὸν παῖδα, ἀλλὰ βιασθεὶς ὑπὸ τῆς νόσου καὶ τῆς ἀπαιδίας καὶ τῆς ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν θερα
πείας καὶ τῆς ἔχθρας τῆς πρὸς τοὺς οἰκείους, ἵνα μὴ κληρονόμοι γένωνται τῶν αὑτοῦ, ἄν τι πάθῃ, ταῦτ᾽ ἔστω ὑμῖν τεκμήρια: δηλώσει δὲ καὶ τἀκόλουθ᾽ αὐτῶν ἔτι μᾶλλον.

  [58] For no sooner had Phrastor got up from that sickness and recovered his health and was fairly well, than he took to wife according to the laws an Athenian woman, the legitimate daughter of Satyrus, of Melitê, and the sister of Diphilus. Let this, therefore, be a proof to you that he took back the child, not willingly, but forced by his sickness, by his childless condition, by the care shown by these women in nursing him, and by the enmity which he felt toward his own relatives, and his wish that they should not inherit his property, if anything should happen to him. This will be proved to you even more clearly by what followed.

  [59] ὡς γὰρ εἰσῆγεν ὁ Φράστωρ εἰς τοὺς φράτερας τὸν παῖδα ἐν τῇ ἀσθενείᾳ ὢν τὸν ἐκ τῆς θυγατρὸς τῆς Νεαίρας, καὶ εἰς τοὺς Βρυτίδας ὧν καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ Φράστωρ γεννήτης, εἰδότες οἶμαι οἱ γεννῆται τὴν γυναῖκα ἥτις ἦν, ἣν ἔλαβεν ὁ Φράστωρ τὸ πρῶτον, τὴν τῆς Νεαίρας θυγατέρα, καὶ τὴν ἀπόπεμψιν τῆς ἀνθρώπου, καὶ διὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν πεπεισμένον αὐτὸν πάλιν ἀναλαβεῖν τὸν παῖδα, ἀποψηφίζονται τοῦ παιδὸς καὶ οὐκ ἐνέγραφον αὐτὸν εἰς σφᾶς αὐτούς.