Delphi Complete Works of Demosthenes

by Demosthenes

  [119] I think, therefore, that neither Stephanus himself nor anyone on his behalf will succeed in proving that the charges and the testimony are false — that, in short, this Neaera is an Athenian woman. But I hear that he is going to set up some such defense as this — that he is keeping her, not as a wife, but as a mistress, and that the children are not hers, but were born to him by another woman, an Athenian and a relative of his, whom he will assert that he married at a earlier date.

  [120] πρὸς δὴ τὴν ἀναίδειαν αὐτοῦ τοῦ λόγου καὶ τὴν παρασκευὴν τῆς ἀπολογίας καὶ τῶν μαρτυρεῖν αὐτῷ παρεσκευασμένων πρόκλησιν αὐτὸν προὐκαλεσάμην ἀκριβῆ καὶ δικαίαν, δι᾽ ἧς ἐξῆν ὑμῖν πάντα τἀληθῆ εἰδέναι, παραδοῦναι τὰς θεραπαίνας τὰς Νεαίρᾳ τότε προσκαρτερούσας ὅτ᾽ ἦλθεν ὡς Στέφανον ἐκ Μεγάρων, Θρᾷτταν καὶ Κοκκαλίνην, καὶ ἃς ὕστερον παρὰ τούτῳ οὖσα ἐκτήσατο, Ξεννίδα καὶ Δροσίδα:

  [120] To meet the impudence of this assertion of his, of the defense which he has concocted, and of the witnesses whom he has suborned to support it, I tendered him a precise and reasonable challenge, by means of which you would have been enabled to know the whole truth: I proposed that he should deliver up for the torture the women-servants, Thratta and Coccalinê, who remained loyally with Neaera when she came to Stephanus from Megara, and those whom she purchased subsequently, while living with him, Xennis and Drosis;

  [121] αἳ ἴσασιν ἀκριβῶς Πρόξενόν τε τὸν τελευτήσαντα καὶ Ἀρίστωνα τὸν νῦν ὄντα καὶ Ἀντιδωρίδην τὸν σταδιοδρομοῦντα καὶ Φανὼ τὴν Στρυβήλην καλουμένην, ἣ Θεογένει τῷ βασιλεύσαντι συνῴκησεν, Νεαίρας ὄντας. καὶ ἐὰν φαίνηται ἐκ τῆς βασάνου γήμας Στέφανος οὑτοσὶ ἀστὴν γυναῖκα καὶ ὄντες αὐτῷ οἱ παῖδες οὗτοι ἐξ ἑτέρας γυναικὸς ἀστῆς καὶ μὴ Νεαίρας, ἤθελον ἀφίστασθαι τοῦ ἀγῶνος καὶ μὴ εἰσιέναι τὴν γραφὴν ταύτην.

  [121] for these women know perfectly well that Proxenus, who died, Ariston, who is still living, and Antidorides the runner, and Phano, formerly called Strybel, who married Theogenes, the king, are children of Neaera. And if it should appear from the torture that this man Stephanus had married an Athenian wife and that these children were borne to him, not by Neaera, but by another woman who was an Athenian, I offered to withdraw from the case and to prevent this indictment from coming into court.

  [122] τὸ γὰρ συνοικεῖν τοῦτ᾽ ἔστιν, ὃς ἂν παιδοποιῆται καὶ εἰσάγῃ εἴς τε τοὺς φράτερας καὶ δημότας τοὺς υἱεῖς, καὶ τὰς θυγατέρας ἐκδιδῷ ὡς αὑτοῦ οὔσας τοῖς ἀνδράσιν. τὰς μὲν γὰρ ἑταίρας ἡδονῆς ἕνεκ᾽ ἔχομεν, τὰς δὲ παλλακὰς τῆς καθ᾽ ἡμέραν θεραπείας τοῦ σώματος, τὰς δὲ γυναῖκας τοῦ παιδοποιεῖσθαι γνησίως καὶ τῶν ἔνδον φύλακα πιστὴν ἔχειν. ὥστ᾽ εἰ πρότερον ἔγημεν γυναῖκα ἀστὴν καὶ εἰσὶν οὗτοι οἱ παῖδες ἐξ ἐκείνης καὶ μὴ Νεαίρας, ἐξῆν αὐτῷ ἐκ τῆς ἀκριβεστάτης μαρτυρίας ἐπιδεῖξαι, παραδόντι τὰς θεραπαίνας ταύτας.

  [122] For this is what living with a woman as one’s wife means — to have children by her and to introduce the sons to the members of the clan and of the deme, and to betroth the daughters to husbands as one’s own. Mistresses we keep for the sake of pleasure, concubines for the daily care of our persons, but wives to bear us legitimate children and to be faithful guardians of our households. If, therefore, Stephanus had previously married an Athenian woman, and these children are hers and not Neaera’s, he could have shown it by the most certain evidence, by delivering up these women-servants for the torture.

  [123] ὡς δὲ προὐκαλεσάμην, τούτων ὑμῖν τήν τε μαρτυρίαν καὶ τὴν πρόκλησιν ἀναγνώσεται. λέγε τὴν μαρτυρίαν, ἔπειτα τὴν πρόκλησιν.”Μαρτυρία

  Ἱπποκράτης Ἱπποκράτους Προβαλίσιος, Δημοσθένης Δημοσθένους Παιανιεύς, Διοφάνης Διοφάνους Ἀλωπεκῆθεν, Δεινομένης Ἀρχελάου Κυδαθηναιεύς, Δεινίας Φόρμου Κυδαντίδης, Λυσίμαχος Λυσίππου Αἰγιλιεὺς μαρτυροῦσι παρεῖναι ἐν ἀγορᾷ ὅτ᾽ Ἀπολλόδωρος προὐκαλεῖτο Στέφανον, ἀξιῶν παραδοῦναι εἰς βάσανον τὰς θεραπαίνας περὶ ὧν ᾐτιᾶτο Ἀπολλόδωρος Στέφανον περὶ Νεαίρας: στέφανον δ᾽ οὐκ ἐθελῆσαι παραδοῦναι τὰς θεραπαίνας: τὴν δὲ πρόκλησιν εἶναι ἣν παρέχεται Ἀπολλόδωρος.”

  [123] To prove that I so challenged him, the clerk shall read to you the deposition regarding these matters and the challenge.

  Read the deposition and then the challenge.”Deposition

  Hippocrates, son of Hippocrates, of Probalinthus, Demosthenes, son of Demosthenes, of Paeania, Diophanes, son of Diophanes, of Alopecê, Deinomenes, son of Archelaus, of Cydathenaeum, Deinias, son of Phormides, of Cydantidae, and Lysimachus, son of Lysippus, of Aegilia, depose that they were present in the agora, when Apollodorus challenged Stephanus, demanding that he deliver up the women-servants for the torture in regard to the charges preferred against Stephanus by Apolodorus concerning Neaera; and that Stephanus refused to deliver up the women-servants; and that the challenge was the one which Apollodorus produces.”

  [124] λέγε δὴ αὐτὴν τὴν πρόκλησιν, ἣν προὐκαλούμην ἐγὼ Στέφανον τουτονί.”Πρόκλησις

  τάδε προὐκαλεῖτο Ἀπολλόδωρος Στέφανον περὶ ὧν τὴν γραφὴν γέγραπται Νέαιραν, ξένην οὖσαν ἀστῷ συνοικεῖν, ἕτοιμος ὢν τὰς θεραπαίνας παραλαμβάνειν τὰς Νεαίρας, ἃς ἐκ Μεγάρων ἔχουσα ἦλθεν, Θρᾷτταν καὶ Κοκκαλίνην, καὶ ἃς ὕστερον παρὰ Στεφάνῳ ἐκτήσατο, Ξεννίδα καὶ Δροσίδα, τὰς εἰδυίας ἀκριβῶς περὶ τῶν παίδων τῶν ὄντων Νεαίρᾳ, ὅτι οὐκ ἐκ Στεφάνου εἰσίν, Πρόξενός τε ὁ τελευτήσας καὶ Ἀρίστων ὁ νῦν ὢν καὶ Ἀντιδωρίδης ὁ σταδιοδρομῶν καὶ Φανώ, ἐφ᾽ ᾧ τε βασανίσαι αὐτάς. καὶ εἰ μὲν ὁμολογοῖεν ἐκ Στεφάνου εἶναι καὶ Νεαίρας τούτους τοὺς παῖδας, πεπρᾶσθαι Νέαιραν κατὰ τοὺς νόμους καὶ τοὺς παῖδας ξένους εἶναι: εἰ δὲ μὴ ὁμολογοῖεν ἐκ ταύτης εἶναι αὐτοὺς ἀλλ᾽ ἐξ ἑτέρας γυναικὸς ἀστῆς, ἀφίστασθαι τοῦ ἀγῶνος ἤθελον τοῦ Νεαίρας, καὶ εἴ τι ἐκ τῶν βασάνων βλαφθείησαν αἱ ἄνθρωποι, ἀποτίνειν ὅ τι βλαβείησαν.”

  [124] Now read the challenge itself which I tendered to this Stephanus.”Challenge

  Apollodorus tendered this challenge to Stephanus in connection with the indictment which he preferred against Neaera, charging that she, being an alien, is living as wife with him, a citizen. Apollodorus is ready to receive for examinat
ion by the torture the women-servants of Neaera, Thratta and Coccalinê, whom she brought with her from Megara, and those whom she subsequently purchased while living with Stephanus — Xennis, namely, and Drosis — women who have accurate knowledge regarding the children of Neaera, that they are not by Stephanus. These are Proxenus, who died, Ariston, who is now living, Antidorides the runner, and Phano. And if they agreed that these children are Neaera’s, I demanded that Neaera be sold as a slave in accordance with the law, and that her children be declared aliens; but if they agreed that the children are not hers but were born of some other woman who was an Athenian, then I offered to withdraw from the action against Neaera, and if the women had been injured in any way as a result of the torture, to pay for the injuries sustained.”

  [125] ταῦτα προκαλεσαμένου ἐμοῦ, ἄνδρες δικασταί, Στέφανον τουτονί, οὐκ ἠθέλησεν δέξασθαι. οὔκουν ἤδη δοκεῖ ὑμῖν δεδικάσθαι ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ Στεφάνου τουτουί, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, ὅτι ἔνοχός ἐστι τῇ γραφῇ Νέαιρα ἣν ἐγὼ αὐτὴν ἐγραψάμην, καὶ ὅτι ἐγὼ μὲν ἀληθῆ εἴρηκα πρὸς ὑμᾶς καὶ τὰς μαρτυρίας παρεσχόμην ἀληθεῖς, οὑτοσὶ δ᾽ ὅ τι ἂν λέγῃ πάντα ψεύσεται, καὶ ἐξελέγξει αὐτὸς αὑτὸν ὅτι οὐδὲν ὑγιὲς λέγει, οὐκ ἐθελήσας παραδοῦναι εἰς βασάνους τὰς θεραπαίνας ἃς ἐγὼ ἐξῄτουν αὐτόν;

  [125] On my tendering this challenge to Stephanus, men of the jury, he refused to accept it. Does it not, then, appear to you, men of the jury, that a verdict has been given by Stephanus here himself that Neaera is guilty under the indictment which I preferred against her, and that I have told you the truth and produced testimony which is true, whereas whatever Stephanus may say to you will be wholly false, and he will himself prove that he has no sound argument to advance, inasmuch as he has refused to deliver up for the torture the women-servants whom I demanded of him?

  [126] ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, καὶ τοῖς θεοῖς, εἰς οὓς οὗτοι ἠσεβήκασιν, καὶ ἐμαυτῷ τιμωρῶν, κατέστησά τε τουτουσὶ εἰς ἀγῶνα καὶ ὑπὸ τὴν ὑμετέραν ψῆφον ἤγαγον. καὶ ὑμᾶς δὲ χρὴ νομίσαντας μὴ λήσειν τοὺς θεούς, εἰς οὓς οὗτοι παρανενομήκασιν, ὅ τι ἂν ἕκαστος ὑμῶν ψηφίσηται, ψηφίσασθαι τὰ δίκαια καὶ τιμωρεῖν μάλιστα μὲν τοῖς θεοῖς, ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς. καὶ ταῦτα ποιήσαντες δόξετε πᾶσι καλῶς καὶ δικαίως δικάσαι ταύτην τὴν γραφήν, ἣν Νέαιραν ἐγὼ ἐγραψάμην, ξένην οὖσαν ἀστῷ συνοικεῖν.

  [126] I therefore, men of the jury, as an avenger of the gods against whom these people have committed sacrilege, and as an avenger of myself, have brought them to trial and submitted them to be judged by you. It is now your duty to render the verdict which justice demands, knowing well that the gods, against whom these people have acted lawlessly, will not be unaware of the vote each one of you shall cast. It is your duty to be avengers in the first place of the gods, but also of your own selves. If you do this, you will be held by all men to have given an honorable and just decision on this indictment which I have preferred against Neaera, charging that she, being an alien, lives as his wife with an Athenian citizen.

  Ἐπιτάφιος. — THE FUNERAL SPEECH

  [1] ἐπειδὴ τοὺς ἐν τῷδε τῷ τάφῳ κειμένους, ἄνδρας ἀγαθοὺς ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ γεγονότας, ἔδοξεν τῇ πόλει δημοσίᾳ θάπτειν καὶ προσέταξεν ἐμοὶ τὸν νομιζόμενον λόγον εἰπεῖν ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῖς, ἐσκόπουν μὲν εὐθὺς ὅπως τοῦ προσήκοντος ἐπαίνου τεύξονται, ἐξετάζων δὲ καὶ σκοπῶν ἀξίως εἰπεῖν τῶν τετελευτηκότων ἕν τι τῶν ἀδυνάτων ηὕρισκον ὄν. οἳ γὰρ τὴν ὑπάρχουσαν πᾶσιν ἔμφυτον τοῦ ζῆν ὑπερεῖδον ἐπιθυμίαν, καὶ τελευτῆσαι καλῶς μᾶλλον ἠβουλήθησαν ἢ ζῶντες τὴν Ἑλλάδ᾽ ἰδεῖν ἀτυχοῦσαν, πῶς οὐκ ἀνυπέρβλητον παντὶ λόγῳ τὴν αὑτῶν ἀρετὴν καταλελοίπασιν; ὁμοίως μέντοι διαλεχθῆναι τοῖς πρότερόν ποτ᾽ εἰρηκόσιν ἐνθάδ᾽ εἶναι μοι δοκεῖ.

  [1] After the State decreed that those who repose in this tomb, having acquitted themselves as brave men in the war, should have a public funeral, and appointed me to the duty of delivering over them the customary speech, I began straightway to study how they might receive their due tribute of praise; but as I studied and searched my mind the conclusion forced itself upon me that to speak as these dead deserve was one of those things that cannot be done. For, since they scorned the love of life that is inborn in all men and chose rather to die nobly than to live and look upon Greece in misfortune, how can they have failed to leave behind them a record of valor surpassing all power of words to express? Nevertheless I propose to treat the theme in the same vein as those who have previously spoken in this place from time to time.

  [2] ὡς μὲν οὖν ἡ πόλις σπουδάζει περὶ τοὺς ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ τελευτῶντας, ἔκ τε τῶν ἄλλων ἔστιν ἰδεῖν καὶ μάλιστ᾽ ἐκ τοῦδε τοῦ νόμου, καθ᾽ ὃν αἱρεῖται τὸν ἐροῦντ᾽ ἐπὶ ταῖς δημοσίαις ταφαῖς: εἰδυῖα γὰρ παρὰ τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς ἀνδράσιν τὰς μὲν τῶν χρημάτων κτήσεις καὶ τῶν κατὰ τὸν βίον ἡδονῶν ἀπολαύσεις ὑπερεωραμένας, τῆς δ᾽ ἀρετῆς καὶ τῶν ἐπαίνων πᾶσαν τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν οὖσαν, ἐξ ὧν ταῦτ᾽ ἂν αὐτοῖς μάλιστα γένοιτο λόγων, τούτοις ᾠήθησαν δεῖν αὐτοὺς τιμᾶν, ἵν᾽ ἣν ζῶντες ἐκτήσαντ᾽ εὐδοξίαν, αὕτη καὶ τετελευτηκόσιν αὐτοῖς ἀποδοθείη.

  [2] That the State seriously concerns itself with those who die in battle it is possible to infer both from these rites in general and, in particular, from this law in accordance with which it chooses the speaker at our public funerals. For knowing that among good men the acquisition of wealth and the enjoyment of the pleasures that go with living are scorned, and that their whole desire is for virtue and words of praise, the citizens were of the opinion that we ought to honor them with such eulogies as would most certainly secure them in death the glory they had won while living.

  [3] εἰ μὲν οὖν τὴν ἀνδρείαν μόνον αὐτοῖς τῶν εἰς ἀρετὴν ἀνηκόντων ὑπάρχουσαν ἑώρων, ταύτην ἂν ἐπαινέσας ἀπηλλαττόμην τῶν λοιπῶν: ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ γεγενῆσθαι καλῶς καὶ πεπαιδεῦσθαι σωφρόνως καὶ βεβιωκέναι φιλοτίμως συμβέβηκεν αὐτοῖς, ἐξ ὧν εἰκότως ἦσαν σπουδαῖοι, αἰσχυνοίμην ἂν εἴ τι τούτων φανείην παραλιπών. ἄρξομαι δ᾽ ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ γένους αὐτῶν ἀρχῆς.

  [3] Now, if it were my view that, of those qualities that constitute virtue, courage alone was their possession, I might praise this and be done with the speaking, but since it fell to their lot also to have been nobly born and strictly brought up and to have lived with lofty ideals, because of all which they had every reason to be good men, I should be ashamed if I
were found to have passed over any of these topics. I shall begin from the origin of their race.

  [4] ἡ γὰρ εὐγένεια τῶνδε τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἐκ πλείστου χρόνου παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἀνωμολόγηται. οὐ γὰρ μόνον εἰς πατέρ᾽ αὐτοῖς καὶ τῶν ἄνω προγόνων κατ᾽ ἄνδρ᾽ ἀνενεγκεῖν ἑκάστῳ τὴν φύσιν ἔστιν, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς ὅλην κοινῇ τὴν ὑπάρχουσαν πατρίδα, ἧς αὐτόχθονες ὁμολογοῦνται εἶναι. μόνοι γὰρ πάντων ἀνθρώπων, ἐξ ἧσπερ ἔφυσαν, ταύτην ᾤκησαν καὶ τοῖς ἐξ αὑτῶν παρέδωκαν, ὥστε δικαίως ἄν τις ὑπολάβοι τοὺς μὲν ἐπήλυδας ἐλθόντας εἰς τὰς πόλεις καὶ τούτων πολίτας προσαγορευομένους ὁμοίους εἶναι τοῖς εἰσποιητοῖς τῶν παίδων, τούτους δὲ γνησίους γόνῳ τῆς πατρίδος πολίτας εἶναι.

  [4] The nobility of birth of these men has been acknowledged from time immemorial by all mankind. For it is possible for them and for each one of their remote ancestors man by man to trace back their being, not only to a physical father, but also to this land of theirs as a whole, a common possession, of which they are acknowledged to be the indigenous children. For alone of all mankind they settled the very land from which they were born and handed it down to their descendants, so that justly one may assume that those who came as migrants into their cities and are denominated citizens of the same are comparable to adopted children; but these men are citizens of their native land by right of legitimate birth.