[107] οὔκουν δεινόν; πρὸς μὲν τοὺς ἀστυγείτονας καὶ ὁμολογουμένως ἀρίστους τῶν Ἑλλήνων εἰς τὴν πόλιν γεγενημένους οὕτω καλῶς καὶ ἀκριβῶς διωρίσασθε περὶ ἑκάστου, ἐφ᾽ οἷς δεῖ ἔχειν τὴν δωρεάν, τὴν δὲ περιφανῶς ἐν ἁπάσῃ τῇ Ἑλλάδι πεπορνευμένην οὕτως αἰσχρῶς καὶ ὀλιγώρως ἐάσετε ὑβρίζουσαν εἰς τὴν πόλιν καὶ ἀσεβοῦσαν εἰς τοὺς θεοὺς ἀτιμώρητον, ἣν οὔτε οἱ πρόγονοι ἀστὴν κατέλιπον οὔθ᾽ ὁ δῆμος πολῖτιν ἐποιήσατο;

[108] ποῦ γὰρ αὕτη οὐκ εἴργασται τῷ σώματι, ἢ ποῖ οὐκ ἐλήλυθεν ἐπὶ τῷ καθ᾽ ἡμέραν μισθῷ; οὐκ ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ μὲν πάσῃ, ἐν Θετταλίᾳ δὲ καὶ Μαγνησίᾳ μετὰ Σίμου τοῦ Λαρισαίου καὶ Εὐρυδάμαντος τοῦ Μηδείου, ἐν Χίῳ δὲ καὶ ἐν Ἰωνίᾳ τῇ πλείστῃ μετὰ Σωτάδου τοῦ Κρητὸς ἀκολουθοῦσα, μισθωθεῖσα ὑπὸ τῆς Νικαρέτης, ὅτε ἔτι ἐκείνης ἦν; τὴν δὴ ὑφ᾽ ἑτέροις οὖσαν καὶ ἀκολουθοῦσαν τῷ διδόντι τί οἴεσθε ποιεῖν; ἆρ᾽ οὐχ ὑπηρετεῖν τοῖς χρωμένοις εἰς ἁπάσας ἡδονάς; εἶτα τὴν τοιαύτην καὶ περιφανῶς ἐγνωσμένην ὑπὸ πάντων γῆς περίοδον εἰργασμένην ψηφιεῖσθε ἀστὴν εἶναι;

[109] καὶ τί καλὸν φήσετε πρὸς τοὺς ἐρωτῶντας διαπεπρᾶχθαι, ἢ ποίᾳ αἰσχύνῃ καὶ ἀσεβείᾳ οὐκ ἔνοχοι αὐτοὶ εἶναι; πρὶν μὲν γὰρ γραφῆναι ταύτην καὶ εἰς ἀγῶνα καταστῆναι καὶ πυθέσθαι πάντας ἥτις ἦν καὶ οἷα ἠσέβηκεν, τὰ μὲν ἀδικήματα ταύτης ἦν, ἡ δ᾽ ἀμέλεια τῆς πόλεως· καὶ οἱ μὲν οὐκ ᾔδεσαν ὑμῶν, οἱ δὲ πυθόμενοι τῷ μὲν λόγῳ ἠγανάκτουν, τῷ δ᾽ ἔργῳ οὐκ εἶχον ὅ τι χρήσαιντο αὐτῇ, οὐδενὸς εἰς ἀγῶνα καθιστάντος οὐδὲ διδόντος περὶ αὐτῆς τὴν ψῆφον. ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ ἴστε πάντες καὶ ἔχετε ἐφ᾽ ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς καὶ κύριοί ἐστε κολάσαι, ὑμέτερον ἤδη τὸ ἀσέβημα γίγνεται τὸ πρὸς τοὺς θεούς, ἐὰν μὴ ταύτην κολάσητε.

    Given that even the Plataians were rigorously scrutinized, it would be terrible to let someone like Neaira go unpunished.

    107

    οὔκουν δεινόν “is it, then, not an outrageous thing?” signalling the expected pivot to Neaira’s case.

    ἐφ’ οἷς “on what terms”

    τὴν δέ “but this woman,” emphatic, object of ἐάσετε below (“let go unpunished”).

    πεπορνευμένην “has prostituted herself” (mid.-pass.). Note that here, for the first time, Apollodoros uses a verb related to the noun πορνή rather than the less insulting ἑταίρα.

    ὀλιγώρως “negligently”; modifies, along with αἰσχρῶς, the verb ἐάσετε.

    οἱ πρόγονοι: i.e., the ancestors of this woman. 

    ἀστήν: take as a predicate. 

    108

    ἐν Θετταλίᾳ . . . καὶ Μαγνησίᾳ “in Thessaly and Magnesia.”

    Λαρισαίου “of Larissa” (this is the same Simos we learned of in §24). 

    Μηδείου “[son] of Medeios.”

    ἐν Χίῳ . . . ἐν Ἰωνίᾳ: “on Chios and in Ionia.”

    Κρητός < Κρής. 

    ὑφ’ ἑτέροις: ὑπό = “under the power of," "under the control of.”

    τῷ διδόντι “the man who gives (money to her).”

    τοῖς χρωμένοις “those who have (intimate) dealings with her,” i.e., her sexual partners.

    εἶτα . . . ψηφιεῖσθε ”and so, will you really vote?” εἶτα introduces an indignant rhetorical question expecting the answer “of course not!” See LSJ II.

    ὑπὸ πάντων: take this with ἐγωσμένην. 

    περίοδον: accusative following the idea of motion implied by εἰργασμένην (that is, she moved around while working): see Kapparis 1999: 402.

    εἰργασμένην: participle in indirect statement initiated by ἐγνωσμένην. The rhetorician and critic Hermogenes of Tarsus (160–230 CE) says that the phrase ἀπὸ τριῶν τρυπημάτων τὴν ἐργασίαν πεποιῆσθαι (“doing the job from three orifices”) was obelized (marked as inauthentic) in this speech by some grammarians, presumably for being too obscene (Περὶ ἰδεῶν p. 325, ed. Rabe 1917); in fact, none of our manuscripts include it. Some scholars (e.g., Carey 1992: 141–42) think that this language was too explicit to have been used by Apollodoros; Kapparis 1999: 402–5, citing further evidence for the use of this expression, believes that it is genuine and was found either here (as suggested by Blass) or elsewhere in the speech.

    109

    διαπεπρᾶχθαι . . . εἶναι “that you have done . . . that you are”; infin. in indirect statement after φήσετε, with the same subject.  

    ἔνοχοι “liable to the imputation of/penalty for” (+ dat.); predicate adjective agreeing with understood “you (pl.)”

    πάντας: accusative subject of πυθέσθαι. 

    τὰ μὲν ἀδικήματα ταύτης ἦν, ἡ δ᾽ἀμέλεια τῆς πόλεως “the misdeeds were this woman’s, the city’s the negligence,” i.e., the misdeeds belonged to this woman (alone), and the city’s misdeed was merely negligence. ταύτης . . . πόλεως: both are possessive genitives.

    οἱ μέν . . . οἱ δέ ”some…others.”

    τῷ δ᾽ ἔργῳ “in practice,” “practically speaking.”

    εἶχον ὅ τι χρήσαιντο αὐτῇ “did not have a way of dealing with her.” For this idiom, see §98.

    ἔχετε: supply Neaira as object: “have got her in your hands.”

    107

    ἀστυγείτων –ον gen. –ονος: near or bordering on a city

    Ἕλλην –ος ὁ: Greek man

    διορίζω διοριῶ διώρισα διώρικα διώρισμαι διωρίσθην: to define

    δωρεά –άς ἡ: a gift, present

    περιφανής –ές: visible from all sides; manifest, clear; adv. -νῶς conspicuously, notably, evidently

    Ἕλλας –αδος ἡ: Greece

    πορνεύω: to prostitute

    ὀλίγωρος –ον: little-caring, scornful; negligent

    ὑβρίζω ὑβριζιῶ ὕβρισα ὕβρικα ὕβρισμαι ὑβρίσθην: insult, offend, disrespect

    ἀσεβέω ἀσεβήσω ἠσέβησα ἠσέβηκα ἠσέβημαι ἐσεβήθην: to be impious, commit sacrilege, sin against

    ἀτιμώρητος: unavenged

    πρόγονος –ου ὁ: ancestor

    ἀστή –ῆς ἡ: fem. of ἀστός

    καταλείπω καλλείψω κάλλιπον καταλέλοιπα καταλέλειμμαι κατελείφθην: to leave behind

    πολῖτις: female citizen

    108

    ποι: to somewhere

    μισθός –οῦ ὁ: wages, pay, hire

    Πελοπόννησος –ου ἡ: the Peloponnesus

    Θεσσαλία: Thessaly

    Μαγνησία ἡ: Magnesia

    Σῖμος: Simos

    Λαρισαῖος (or Ληρισαῖος) ὁ: Larissaean, of or from Larissa

    Εὐρυδάμας -αντος ὁ: Eurydamas

    Μήδειος: Mede

    Χῖος: Chian, of Chios

    Ἰωνία: Ionia 

    Σωτάδης: Sotades

    Κρής Κρητός ὁ: a Cretan

    ἀκολουθέω ἀκολουθήσω ἠκολουθήσα ἠκολουθήκα ἠκολουθήμαι ἠκολουθήθην: follow, go after, obey

    μισθόω: to let out for hire, farm out, let

    Νικαρέτη: Nikarete

    ὑπηρετέω ὑπηρετήσω ὑπηρέτησα ὑπηρέτηκα ὑπηρέτημαι ὑπηρετήθην: to minister to, serve (+ dat.)

    γαῖα –ας ἡ: earth

    περίοδος ὁ: a going around, circuit

    ψηφίζω ψηφιζιῶ ἐψήφισα ἐψήφικα ἐψήφισμαι ἐψήφισθην: vote

    109

    διαπράσσω διαπράξω διέπραξα διαπέπραχα (or διαπέπραγα) διαπέπραγμαι διεπράχθην: to accomplish, do

    αἰσχύνη –ης ἡ: shame, dishonor

    ἀσέβεια –ας ἡ: ungodliness, impiety

    ἔνοχος: accused, exposed, liable to + dat.

    οἷος –α –ον: such as, of what sort, like, (exclam.) what a!, how! ; οἷός τε (+infin.) fit or able to; οἷόν τε (+infin.) it is possible to

    ἀδίκημα –ματος τό: a wrong done, a wrong, misdeed

    ἀμέλεια –ας ἡ: indifference, negligence

    ἀγανακτέω ἀγανακτήσω ἠγανακτήσα ἠγανακτήκα ἠγανακτήμαι ἠγανακτήθην: be annoyed with

    ψῆφος –ου ἡ: small stone; vote; judgment

    κολάζω κολάσω ἐκόλασα κεκόλακα κεκόλαμαι ἐκολάσθην: chastise, punish

    ἀσέβημα: an impious or profane act

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    Suggested Citation

    Deborah Kamen, Pseudo-Demosthenes: Against Neaira. Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Dickinson College Commentaries, 2018. ISBN: 978-1-947822-10-8.https://dcc.dickinson.edu/ar/against-neaira/107-109