Neaira (hetaera)

Neaira (/nɪˈaɪrə/; Greek: Νέαιρα), also Neaera (/nɪˈɪərə/), was a hetaera who lived in the 4th century BC in ancient Greece. She was brought to trial between 343 and 340 BC, accused of marrying an Athenian citizen illegally and misrepresenting her daughter as an Athenian citizen.

The speech made against Neaira in this trial by Apollodorus is preserved as Demosthenes' fifty-ninth speech, though the speech is often attributed to Pseudo-Demosthenes, who seems to have worked on many of the speeches given by Apollodorus. The speech provides more details than any other about prostitutes of antiquity, and consequently a great deal of information about sex trade in the ancient Greek city-states (poleis).

The speech Against Neaira is the source of most of the details of Neaira's biography. It concerns a case brought against Neaira when she was about fifty by Apollodorus' son-in-law Theomnestus, though apart from a brief introduction of the case given by Theomnestus, Apollodorus delivered the entirety of the speech. The case revolves around the accusation that Neaira, a foreigner, married an Athenian citizen, and that she was attempting to pass off her own children as Athenian citizens.

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