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The blackmailing was motivated by a need for money: Neaira wanted to maintain the lifestyle to which she had become accustomed, and Stephanos’ only source of income was bringing frivolous lawsuits. Friends of Phrynion and Stephanos brought the two men to arbitration.

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οὐσία: here in the sense of “resources” generated by an estate.

ὑπῆρχεν “existed” + dat. of possession, < ὑπάρχω (LSJ B.2).

δύνασθαι: supply as subjects Neaira and Stephanos.

διοίκησις: the costs of keeping up a house.

ὁπότ’ ἔδει “since it was necessary.” See LSJ ὁπότε B. Dilts 2009 prints ὅπου γε δέοι, following Kapparis 1999, with similar meaning (LSJ ὄπου ΙΙ.2).

ἄλλως τε καί “especially”

μεμαθηκυῖα < μανθάνω; in past tenses, can have the sense of “to be accustomed to” + infinitive.

μὴ κακῶς ἔχειν τὰ ἐπιτήδεια “to not be in a bad state with regard to necessities,” i.e., to live comfortably, see note on §12 regarding ἔχω + adverb. For τὰ ἐπιτήδεια  = “necessaries, provisions,” see LSJ ἐπιτήδειος II.1.

ἑτέρων ἀναλισκόντων: genitive absolute, “with others bearing the expenses.”

τὸ πρότερον: adverbial accusative (see §1611). 

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πολιτείας “the daily life of a citizen,” i.e., doing civic business (LSJ A.2).

προσῄει < πρός + εἶμι, of revenue, “to come in” (LSJ πρόσειμι [εἶμι ibo] III).

παραβοώντων: that is, shouting in support of, or in opposition to, other (more prominent) politicians who were speaking at the speakers’ platform (βῆμα), in order to whip up the crowd in the Assembly.

γραφομένων μισθοῦ “indicting for pay”; that is, Stephanos was paid by others to bring γραφαί against their opponents.

φαινόντων < φαίνω, “to inform against, denounce” someone who withholds property that belongs to the state; successful prosecution in a φάσις brought the prosecutor half the fine the jury imposed.

ἐπιγραφομένων < ἐπιγράφω, “to inscribe one’s name on” proposals as the (in this case, alleged) proposer. Senior politicians who didn’t want to take on the risk of making a new proposal in their own name would sometimes pay others to do so.

γνώμαις: “proposals.”

ἕως: introduces a temporal clause; governing an aorist verb, it means “until” (G. 631, S. 2383C).

ὑπέπεσε “fell under the sway of” + dat. < ὑποπίπτω.

ἐξ ὅτου δὲ τρόπου “in what way” (for the preposition, see LSJ τρόπος II.3). ὅτου < ὅστις, used as the indirect interrogative adjective.

ἠσέβηκεν < ἀσεβέω.

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ἐλάττω = ἐλάττονα (< ἐλάσσων); adverbial accusative.

δοῦναι δίκην: δίδωμι δίκην means “to suffer a punishment, pay a penalty.”

ὅσῳ: “inasmuch as.”

κατεφρόνηκεν < καταφρονέω (+ gen.).

οὐδ᾽. . . τολμᾷ: “he does not endure to,” “he cannot bring himself to.”

ἡμαρτημένων < ἁμαρτάνω: the participle is neuter.

αὑτῷ: dative of agent with perfect passive participle ἡμαρτημένων .

συκοφαντῶν “bringing baseless charges against” < συκοφαντέω.

τουτονί: i.e. Theomnestos; subject of καταστῆσαι.

αὐτὸν καὶ ταύτην: i.e. Stephanos and Neaira; objects of καταστῆσαι.

ἐξετασθῆναι < ἐξετάζω, “examine, investigate.”

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λαχόντος < λαγχάνω: λαγχάνω δίκην: “to obtain permission to bring a suit” (+ dat. of person charged) by handing in a statement of the charge to the appropriate magistrate. The suit referred to here is likely a δίκη ἀφαιρέσεως.

αὐτοῦ ἀφείλετο “he took from him” < ἀφαιρέω (+ gen. of person from whom something/someone is taken).

συνῆγον “brought them together.”

ἐπιτήδειοι “close friends.”

δίαιταν ἐπιτρέψαι αὑτοῖς “to refer the arbitration to them,” i.e., to turn the matter over to them for arbitration. See LSJ ἐπιτρέπω I.A.3. In Athens, there was both private and public arbitration (the former administered by private individuals, the latter by state officials). This is an instance of private arbitration, the decision of which was binding (cf. public arbitration, the decision of which could be appealed to the courts). The aim of arbitration was to arrive at a solution agreeable to both parties; usually, each party got to pick an arbitrator favorable to his side, and the two agreed on a third who was relatively impartial.