Neaira grew up in a Corinthian brothel in the fourth century B.C., became a high-priced courtesan and a sex slave, then settled into a thirty-year relationship with Stephanos of Athens. But next she found herself in court, charged with transgressing Athens’s marriage laws. This book reconstructs the amazing facts of Neaira’s life and trial, illuminating the social, legal, and cultural worlds of ancient Greece.
“Hamel’s treatment of this complicated story is outstanding . . . for its comprehensive [yet remarkably concise] presentation of the social and historical context of fourth-century Athens.”—Ingrid D. Rowland, New Republic
“[Trying Neaira] is an extraordinary tale, with more than an echo of Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha.”—Tom Holland, Daily Telegraph00
“A marvelous account of a fascinating series of events in the life of a Greek woman of the fourth century B.C. Hamel tells the tale with clarity and verve and, along the way, she teaches the reader a vast amount about Athenian society in the most interesting and entertaining way.”—Donald Kagan, Yale University
“Charmingly written (and) nicely illustrated. . . . Hamel’s account is engaging, accessible to nonexperts, and useful for courses on Athenian society.”—Choice
“As told by Debra Hamel, this true-life story offers an extraordinary window on a civilization that wasn’t half so rarefied in its interests or affections as we tend to assume.”—The Scotsman
Debra Hamel earned her Ph.D. from the Yale Classics Department in 1996. Her most recent book, Reading Herodotus: A Guided Tour through the Wild Boars, Dancing Suitors, and Crazy Tyrants of The History, will be published by The Johns Hopkins University Press in the fall of 2012. She is also the author of Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece.
When she's not writing about wild boars, wild women, and ithyphallic statues, Debra can be found in her subterranean lair tending her fleet of web sites, which include the literary sites TwitrLit, KidderLit, and ScatterLit. She is also the creator of The Twitter Herodotus, where she is posting an abbreviated version of Herodotus' History for the modern age.
Debra lives with her husband and two preternaturally attractive daughters in North Haven, Conn. You can find her online at dhamel.com and on Twitter at @debra_hamel.
