Theoris of Lemnos

Theoris of Lemnos (died before 323 BC) was an ancient Greek woman who lived in Athens in the fourth century BC, and was accused of witchcraft. She was executed along with her children, though the precise details of her offence are unclear. The evidence of her prosecution is the most detailed account of a witch trial to survive from Classical Greece.[1]

Accounts

The earliest and most detailed source on the trial of Theoris is Demosthenes'[lower-alpha 1] speech Against Aristogeiton,[2] which was addressed to jurors in the trial of Aristogeiton, an Athenian orator. The relevant passage says:

It was this man [Eunomus] who took the potions and incantations from the maidservant of Theoris of Lemnos, the filthy sorceress whom you executed for these things, both her and all her family. The maidservant informed against her mistress, and this evildoer has had children by her, and with her help performs his tricks and acts of deceit, and says he treats those who are seized by fits, when he himself is caught in acts of wickedness of every kind.[5]

Two later testimonia also survive: one account by Philochorus, cited by Harpocration in the second century AD, and one by Plutarch.[6] Both of these accounts are based on the one in Against Aristogeiton.[7] Plutarch's account of the case seems to conflate the story of Theoris with that of another woman mentioned in the speeches of Demosthenes, Nino, who was executed in the 350s or 340s – apparently for performing rites which mocked the Dionysian mysteries.[8]

Theoris was originally from the island of Lemnos, but lived in Athens.[9] Since 390 BC, Lemnos had been controlled by Athens, and so Theoris may have been an Athenian citizen;[10] alternatively she may have been one of the "dispossessed" Lemnians who were not from Athenian settlements on the island.[11] Theoris had children, but there is no mention of a husband in the ancient sources.[12] Her children may have been by Eunomus, the brother of Aristogeiton,[13] though Demosthenes' text is not clear on this.[14]

Some time before 323[lower-alpha 2] BC Theoris was put on trial in Athens, convicted, and executed along with her children.[5] Plutarch claims that the prosecution was brought by Demosthenes.[16] It is not certain exactly what crime Theoris was charged with, as the surviving ancient sources differ.[17] According to Demosthenes it was for casting incantations and using harmful drugs;[1] she is described as a pharmakis, literally a provider of drugs and potions but in this context meaning a witch or sorceress.[15] Philochorus calls her a mantis or seeress[15] and reports that she was charged with impiety;[9] and Plutarch, who calls her a hiereia or priestess (though does not identify the deity she served),[15] says that she was convicted of "committing many misdeeds and teaching the slaves to deceive".[18]

Analysis

Derek Collins suggests that Theoris was probably charged with intentional homicide by poisoning, in which case she would have been tried before the Areopagus.[19] Alternatively, she may have been charged with Βουλευσις ("planning"[20]) to commit homicide, and been tried at the Palladion.[21] Collins thinks that the former scenario is more likely, as Theoris' family were executed with her.[21]

Esther Eidinow suggests that Theoris's offences were more to do with offending religious or social sensibilities. She argues that if Theoris had been prosecuted for homicide, the charge would have been described more explicitly in Against Aristogeiton – as it is in Antiphon's speech Against the Stepmother for Poisoning which uses the word phonos ("homicide") to describe a similar crime.[22] The varying accounts given by classical Greek authors suggest that she may have been a self-proclaimed healer of the type that Hippocratic authors condemned,[10] may have transgressed some standard of social control relating to slaves, or may have engaged in "impiety", a vague term often used by politicians to attack rivals.[23] If Theoris was charged with impiety, Eidinow suggests, that would better explain the reluctance to specify the charge against her in Against Aristogeiton and would explain the description of her in that speech as miaros ("polluted").[24]

Viewed in this light, Julia Kindt suggests that the trial and execution of Theoris may have been an instance of individuals within the polis seeking "to draw the line between religion and magic, between acceptable and unacceptable religious practices and religious power with the help of the law courts".[25] Michael A. Rinella points out that she must have been a figure of "some renown or notoriety", as the Demosthenic speaker clearly assumes that her name will be recognised. He notes that her prosecution itself indicates that she had some importance, either because she was important in her own right or because it was to someone's advantage to prosecute her. The account suggests that she was literate, setting her apart from most people, and that she had sufficient economic means to have a maidservant.[26]

Notes

  1. ↑ Derek Collins says the speech is "generally regarded as spurious"[2] and refers to it throughout as pseudo-Demosthenic. However, Esther Eidinow accepts the speech as Demosthenic,[3] a view supported by Douglas MacDowell in his commentary on the speeches of Demosthenes.[4]
  2. ↑ Collins dates Theoris to before 338 BC;[1] Eidinow to before 323.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Collins 2001, p. 477.
  2. 1 2 Collins 2001, p. 485.
  3. ↑ Eidinow 2016, p. 12 et passim.
  4. ↑ MacDowell 2009, p. 312.
  5. 1 2 Eidinow 2016, pp. 11–12.
  6. ↑ Eidinow 2016, p. 11.
  7. ↑ Collins 2001, pp. 490–1.
  8. ↑ Collins 2008, p. 138.
  9. 1 2 Collins 2008, p. 137.
  10. 1 2 Eidinow 2016, p. 13.
  11. ↑ Eidinow 2016, p. 64.
  12. ↑ Kennedy 2014, p. 144.
  13. ↑ Kennedy 2014, p. 145.
  14. ↑ Kennedy 2014, p. 159, n. 81.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Eidinow 2016, p. 12.
  16. ↑ Eidinow 2016, p. 15.
  17. ↑ Collins 2008, p. 136.
  18. ↑ Collins 2008, pp. 137–8.
  19. ↑ Collins 2001, p. 488.
  20. ↑ MacDowell 1999, p. 60.
  21. 1 2 Collins 2001, p. 489.
  22. ↑ Eidinow 2016, p. 43.
  23. ↑ Eidinow 2016, p. 16.
  24. ↑ Eidinow 2016, p. 42.
  25. ↑ Kindt 2012, p. 117.
  26. ↑ Rinella 2010, p. 183.

Works cited

  • Collins, Derek (2001), "Theoris of Lemnos and the Criminalization of Magic in Fourth-Century Athens", The Classical Quarterly, 5 (1)
  • Collins, Derek (2008), Magic in the Ancient Greek World, Malden: Blackwell
  • Eidinow, Esther (2016), Envy, Poison, and Death: Women on Trial in Ancient Athens, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-956260-2
  • Kennedy, Rebecca Futo (2014), Immigrant Women in Athens: Gender, Ethnicity and Citizenship in the Classical City, New York: Routledge
  • Kindt, Julia (2012), Rethinking Greek Religion, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-11092-1
  • MacDowell, D. M. (1999), Athenian Homicide Law in the Age of the Orators, Manchester: Manchester University Press
  • MacDowell, D. M. (2009), Demosthenes the Orator, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  • Rinella, Michael A. (2010), Pharmakon: Plato, Drug Culture, and Identity in Ancient Athens, Lexington Books, ISBN 978-0-7391-4686-6
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.