Theomnestus and Apollodorus Against Neaera

And this woman offered on the city’s behalf the sacrifices which none may name, and saw what it was not fitting for her to see, being an alien; and despite her character she entered where no other of the whole host of the Athenians enters save the wife of the king only; and she administered the oath to the venerable priestesses[*](These were women whose duty was to minister at the altars of Dionysus.) who preside over the sacrifices, and was given as bride to Dionysus[*](At the festival of the Anthesteria, in order to symbolize the union of the god with the people, the (presumably) noblest woman in the land—the wife of the king—was given as bride to Dionysus.); and she conducted on the city’s behalf the rites which our fathers handed down for the service of the gods, rites many and solemn and not to be named. If it be not permitted that anyone even hear of them, how can it be consonant with piety for a chance-comer to perform them, especially a woman of her character and one who has done what she has done?

I wish, however, to go back farther and explain these matters to you in greater detail, that you may be more careful in regard to the punishment, and may be assured that you are to cast your votes, not only in the interest of your selves and the laws, but also in the interest of reverence towards the gods, by exacting the penalty for acts of impiety, and by punishing those who have done the wrong.

In ancient times, men of Athens, there was sovereignty in our state, and the kingship belonged to those who were from time to time preeminent by reason of their being children of the soil, and the king offered all the sacrifices, and those which were holiest and which none might name his wife performed, as was natural, she being queen.

But when Theseus settled the people in one city and established the democracy, and the city became populous, the people none the less continued to elect the king as before, choosing him from among those most distinguished by valor; and they established a law that his wife should be of Athenian birth, and that he should marry a virgin who had never known another man, to the end that after the custom of our fathers the sacred rites that none may name may be celebrated on the city’s behalf, and that the approved sacrifices may be made to the gods as piety demands, without omission or innovation.

This law they wrote on a pillar of stone, and set it up in the sanctuary of Dionysus by the altar in Limnae[*](A district in the southern part of Athens, though topographers differ widely as to its location. It was doubtless originally a swamp (λίμνη).)(and this pillar even now stands, showing the inscription in Attic characters, nearly effaced). Thus the people testified to their own piety toward the god, and left it as a deposit for future generations, showing what type of woman we demand that she shall be who is to be given in marriage to the god, and is to perform the sacrifices. For this reason they set it up in the most ancient and most sacred sanctuary of Dionysus in Limnae, in order that few only might have knowledge of the inscription; for once only in each year is the sanctuary opened, on the twelfth day of the month Anthesterion.[*](Anthesterion corresponds to the latter half of February and the prior half of March. It was in this month that the Feast of Flowers (τὰ Ἀνθεστήρια) was celebrated in honor of Dionysus.)

These sacred and holy rites for the celebration of which your ancestors provided so well and so magnificently, it is your duty, men of Athens, to maintain with devotion, and likewise to punish those who insolently defy your laws and have been guilty of shameless impiety toward the gods; and this for two reasons: first, that they may pay the penalty for their crimes; and, secondly, that others may take warning, and may fear to commit any sin against the gods and against the state.

I wish now to call before you the sacred herald who waits upon the wife of the king, when she administers the oath to the venerable priestesses as they carry their baskets[*](The baskets contained the salt meal which was sprinkled upon the heads of the victims.) in front of the altar before they touch the victims, in order that you may hear the oath and the words that are pronounced, at least as far as it is permitted you to hear them; and that you may understand how august and holy and ancient the rites are.

The Oath of the Venerable Priestesses

I live a holy life and am pure and unstained by all else that pollutes and by commerce with man, and I will celebrate the feast of the wine god and the Iobacchic feast[*](These festivals derived their names from epithets applied to the God, and belonged to the ancient worship of Dionysus.) in honor of Dionysus in accordance with custom and at the appointed times.