Two ancient authors mention Ninos: Demosthenes (left) and Josephus (right).

Ninos[lower-alpha 1] was an ancient Athenian[lower-alpha 2] woman who was executed at some point in the classical period. Her case is known through three mentions in speeches by Demosthenes – Against Boeotus I and II, and On the False Embassy – and one in Josephus.[3] The prosecution was apparently brought by a man named Menecles, who would go on to be prosecuted in turn by Ninos' son.[4] The date of the prosecution is uncertain: Against Boeotus I was delivered in 348, which provides a terminus ante quem; Esther Eidinow suggests a date of between 362 and 358 BC.[5] The case was apparently well known in the mid-fourth century, as Demosthenes refers to it in his speeches as if the jury are expected to be familiar with the case.[6]

According to Demosthenes, Ninos was a priestess, and was charged with bringing together thiasoi. One scholiast on this passage says that her crime was mocking the Dionysian Mysteries; another says that she made love potions.[7] It is unclear where the scholiast's information about love potions comes from – Eidinow suggests that it is a misinterpretation of Demosthenes' text,[1] while Matthew Dickie says that the comment "does not emerge from anything in the text of Demosthenes" and may have been derived from an Atthidographer or another speech.[4] Whatever its derivation, Derek Collins is skeptical of the scholiast's report, arguing that manufacturing love potions was not a criminal offence.[8] Finally, Josephus lists Ninos as one of five Athenians put to death for asebeia (impiety).[4]

Notes

  1. ↑ Ninos' name is given in the surviving sources only in the accusative, as Ninon (Νινον); the nominative is uncertain. Most scholars call her Ninos.[1]
  2. ↑ Though she lived in Athens, the fact that none of the sources mention a kurios might suggest that she was not a citizen.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 Eidinow 2010, n. 11.
  2. ↑ Filonik 2013, p. 69.
  3. ↑ Eidinow 2010, pp. 13–14, n. 11.
  4. 1 2 3 Dickie 2003, p. 52.
  5. ↑ Eidinow 2016, p. 20.
  6. ↑ Eidinow 2016, p. 19.
  7. ↑ Eidinow 2010, p. 13.
  8. ↑ Collins 2001, p. 491.

Works cited

  • Collins, Derek (2001), "Theoris of Lemnos and the Criminalization of Magic in Fourth-Century Athens", The Classical Quarterly, 5 (1), JSTOR 3556523
  • Dickie, Matthew (2003), Magic and Magicians in the Greco-Roman World, London: Routledge
  • Eidinow, Esther (2010), "Patterns of Persecution: 'Witchcraft' Trials in Classical Athens", Past & Present, 208, JSTOR 40783312
  • Eidinow, Esther (2016), Envy, Poison, and Death: Women on Trial in Ancient Athens, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  • Filonik, Jakub (2013), "Athenian Impiety Trials: A Reappraisal", Dike, 16, doi:10.13130/1128-8221/4290
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