The Study Of The Situation Of Prostitutes In Athens During The Classical Period

In Ancient Athens,prostitutes influence the society more than other women,which includes slaves and immigrant women in Athens.Neaira as a prostitute is well known for us because of a lawcourt speech‘ Against Neaira’.Now this speech is preserved in the Demosthenes,but it is not written by Demosthenes.Through the study of many scholars,the true author is the prosecutor Apollodoros.The speech he delivered in court is an important source of information about Athenian social life,which we have nothing else remotely like it from any classical source.Neaira is accused of concealing her true status,which is that of a prostitute and former slave,and passing herself off as a respectable Athenian citizen.The accusers make it clear,however,their real target is not the woman,but Stephanus,her most recent keeper,who had passed her off as his wife.At the time of Neaira’s trial,marriage between citizen and noncitizen in Athens was illegal.Neaira is a foreigner resident in Athens.She goes through several poleis and eventually comes to Athens with Stephanus.But she was attacked by others at her late years.We know nothing about the result.We don’t know what happened to Neaira or Stephanus: if found guilty,she would have been sold back into slavery,he would lose his entire estate and civic rights.Neaira will be in trouble again.This paper will divide into four chapters.The first chapter will describe the causes and consequences of the incident;the second and the third introduce Neaira’s experience and her social and family’s relations.By describing the transformation of the identity and the change of the circle of communication,we can know how she live,so as to reflect the social features in Athens;the fourth analyzes the situation and status of prostitutes in Athens.In this paper,I will take Neaira as an example,to explore her identity,marriage and family,to examine the living conditions and social status of the group by analyzing the case.I will pay attention to the lower class people to explore the reality of Athens society and the people’s thought and spirit at that time.