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Ninos (priestess)

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

Ninos[a] was an ancient woman executed in Athens at some some point in the classical period.

A scholion on a speech by Demosthenes describe her as a hieria ('priestess').[2] Konstantinos Kapparis argues that as she was described as a priestess she was probably an Athenian citizen.[3] However, her unusual name and the fact that none of the sources mention a kurios ('guardian') might suggest that she was a metic (a non-citizen long-term resident in Athens) instead.[3][4]

Ninos' case is known through three mentions in speeches by Demosthenes – Against Boeotus I and II, and On the False Embassy – and one in Josephus.[5] The prosecution was apparently brought by a man named Menecles, who would go on to be prosecuted in turn by Ninos' son.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8]

According to Demosthenes, Ninos was a priestess, and was charged with bringing together thiasoi. One scholiast on On the False Embassy says that her crime was mocking the Dionysian Mysteries; another says that she made love potions.[9] 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.[6] Whatever its derivation, Derek Collins is skeptical of the scholiast's report, arguing that manufacturing love potions was not a criminal offence.[10] Finally, Josephus lists Ninos as one of five Athenians put to death for asebeia (impiety).[6]

Notes

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  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]

References

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  1. ^ a b Eidinow 2010, n. 11.
  2. ^ McClure 2024, p. 137.
  3. ^ a b McClure 2024, p. 138.
  4. ^ Filonik 2013, p. 69.
  5. ^ Eidinow 2010, pp. 13–14, n. 11.
  6. ^ a b c Dickie 2003, p. 52.
  7. ^ Eidinow 2016, p. 20.
  8. ^ Eidinow 2016, p. 19.
  9. ^ Eidinow 2010, p. 13.
  10. ^ Collins 2001, p. 491.

Works cited

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  • 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
  • McClure, Laura (2024), Phryne of Thespiae: Courtesan, Muse, and Myth, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780197580882
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