Life with Nikarete Neaira was probably born in the first decade of the fourth century BC. Her place of birth is unknown, and the earliest event in her life that we know of is her
purchase when she was a young girl by
Nikarete. Nikarete trained the girls she purchased to be hetaerae, and lived with them in
Corinth. Neaira's work as a prostitute started before she reached puberty. During this time, the orator
Lysias was a prominent guest in Nikarete's brothel and a regular customer of Metaneira, another of Nikarete's girls. In order to reward her for her services, he arranged for her to be initiated into the
Eleusinian Mysteries, and funded the journey. Neaira was at this time about twelve or thirteen, and Nikarete accompanied them. Neaira visited Athens again for the
Great Panathenaea of 378, this time accompanying Simus of Thessaly, a young aristocrat.
Leaving Nikarete and Corinth Around 376 BC, Timanoridas of Corinth and Eukrates of Lefkada paid thirty
minae to purchase Neaira from Nikarete, at the high end of prices for hetaerae. When the men married, they agreed to let Neaira buy her freedom for twenty minae, which, with the aid of gifts and loans from her former customers, she did. As part of this deal, Neaira agreed to no longer work as a prostitute in Corinth, and so left the city for Athens with Phrynion, who had helped her buy her freedom. Neaira was certainly living with Phrynion in
Athens by 373 BC, when he took her to a feast given by the general
Chabrias to celebrate his victory in the
Pythian Games. During this celebration, Apollodorus says, Neaira was sexually assaulted by the guests and slaves of Chabrias while she was drunk and asleep. Due to this and other mistreatment by Phrynion, in 372 BC Neaira left his household and went to
Megara, taking with her her clothing and jewellery, two maids, and other possessions belonging to Phrynion.
Life with Stephanus In Megara, Neaira continued to work as a hetaera, and in 371 met Stephanus. Stephanus offered to act as her patron if she returned with him to Athens. Apollodorus claims that with her she brought two sons and a daughter to Athens, but modern commentators have largely concluded that the sons in question were in fact those of Stephanus, by an Athenian woman. Indeed, Christopher Carey points out that one of the sons, at least, was probably a legitimate son of Stephanus, being named after his father, and John Buckler notes that Apollodorus contradicts himself on whether Neaira's alleged sons were hers by another man, or hers by Stephanus. a claim which Phrynion proceeded to challenge in court, though he was persuaded to settle the case by arbitration instead. The arbitrators decided that Neaira was indeed free, and that in addition to this she was her own
kyria (mistress); this was an extremely unusual decision in a society where all citizen women, at least, had a
kyrios (master). Despite this unusual level of freedom, however, Neaira was compelled to split her time between the two men as they agreed, without any input herself. Neaira herself would not have been permitted to speak at her trial, though she was probably present. The only surviving record of the trial is the speech given by Theomnestus and Apollodorus against Neaira and Stephanus, and the outcome is unknown. No records of Neaira exist after the trial. Modern commentators have noted the weaknesses in Apollodorus' arguments, ==See also==