Trying Neaira
Subtitle: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: February 8, 2003
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 224
ISBN-13: 9780300094312
Subjects: Biography: historical; Biography: political; European history: BCE to c 500 CE; Social history; Women's studies; BCE to c 500 CE; History; History - General History; History: World; Ancient Greece; Ancient - Greece; Legal History; Against Neaira; Apollodoros; History / Ancient / Greece; General; Athens; Greece; Neaira; Prostitutes; Trials (Prostitution); Trials, litigation, etc
First sentence: Neaira grew up in a brothel in Corinth, a polis in Greece's Peloponnese famous enough for its prostitutes that the ancient Greeks made a verb out of it: korinthiazein meant "to fornicate."
Description: "Neaira grew up in a Corinthian brothel in the fourth century B.C. and became one of the city-state's priciest courtesans while yet a teenager. In her twenties she served as the sex slave of two former clients and endured an abusive relationship with an unsavory Athenian. Finally she met Stephanos, an Athenian citizen with whom she lived for the next thirty years.".

"Neaira's life with Stephanos was riddled with lawsuits. In the 34Os Neaira was dragged into court and charged with transgressing Athens' marriage laws. During the trial, zealous prosecutors dredged up the most sordid details of her life. The stakes in the case were high; Neaira's freedom lay in the jurors' hands.".

"The details of Neaira's life are known because the speech delivered in court by her prosecutor has survived. Here, with a more sympathetic eye toward the protagonist, Debra Hamel explains the historical, legal, and cultural context of the trial. In reconstructing the facts of Neaira's life, this book illuminates the social world of ancient Greece."--BOOK JACKET.