Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece

Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable Glimpse of Prostitution in Ancient Greece
Review: This delightfully accessible courtroom drama offers a rare glimpse into the life of a strong willed prostitute who gained, and stood to lose, a measure of domestic tranquility in ancient Greece. The author's considerable research effortlessly contextualizes the mores of an exotic time and place, allowing readers to sympathize fully with an unforgettable protagonist.

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Summary: Marvelous tale of a Corinthian whore
Review: This is the kind of literature that will effectively and properly bring classics into the 21st century: accessible to the novice, factually correct, and not overly preachy or post-structuralist.

Hamel takes us on a whirlwind tour through ancient Attica not only through Neaira's eyes, but makes several stops along the way to explain customs and historical highlights of mid-late 5th and early 4th century Greece pertinent to understanding this particular story.

I felt that the book was somewhat overly hyped, that we would be treated to a climactic judicial clash, except Hamel has all but exhausted the details of the court room drama in constructing Neaira's past, and so that little is left for a grand finale. The verdict of the case is alas, lost to the sands of time as well.

I remember the book's dust jacket having on it something printed to the effect of "the author takes a sympathetic eye towards the protagonist." This comes across strongly at times and tended to raise my eyebrows when Hamel was defending Neaira's behavior with what appeared to be less than solid evidence. But I suppose the occasional author bias is unavoidable when inspired enough to write about such specialized subject matter and to take great pains in drawing together so many tidbits of information into such a wonderful narrative as Hamel has done. Most leanings are minor and forgivable

Terrific book on a formerly too obscure character in antiquity.

Rating:
Summary: Witty and Well-Written Judicial/Social History
Review: Trying Neaira is just what one would NOT expect an historical nonfiction book to be: witty and easy to read, with little bizarre bits that one just MUST read out loud! Furthermore, her writing style is light and makes a normal dry subject (the ancient Athenian judicial system) interesting and comprehensible.

Neaira was a prostitute in the 4th century, who grew up in Corinth and eventually found herself in a stable relationship as the long-time mistress of an influential Athenian, Stephanos. Unfortunately, Stephanos had an equally influential enemy (or at least rival) Apollodoros. They battled back and forth in the courts, and eventually Apollodoros hit on a different way to attack Stephanos--through Neaira.

Athenian laws were quite strict about foreigners and allowed no intermarriage. Apollodoros set out to prove that Neaira was living with Stephanos as his wife, instead of as his mistress, and that their children were being given the rights of Athenian citizens--which, as Neaira's children, they never could be.

Using Apollodoros speech to the jury, Hamel recreates Neaira's life, while using other sources to fill out the story with interesting details about prostitution, jury duty, social customs and Athenian law.*

Hamel approaches Neaira's life (via the speech) as a detective would, piecing together bits, shifting out obvious falsehoods, and in the end presenting a surprising full picture of one woman's life.

This is an excellent book for anyone who is, or who is NOT, interested in ancient Athenian law. I, myself, had not the least curiosity in said subject and yet found myself fascinated, all the while being constantly entertained by her sly wit and bizarre trivia. I learned enough from this book to become quite interested in Athenian history and I feel it will have the same effect on any other casual historian.

*to qoute from the Preface:
Apollodoros'speech, inevitably hostile to Neaira, must be the principal source for her biography, though we will need very often to question and reject the information he provides. Where what he tells us is not inherently unlikely, however, or contradicted by other sources, and when lying about the issue under discussion would not have furthered the prosecution's case, we can feel reasonably confident about accepting Apollodoros'testimony. Fleshing out Neaira's story, too, will require frequent dips into other source material.