Eratosthenes

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  • Euphilethenes defence
    • written by Lysias in 400BC
    • Eratosthenes wife was young
      • ancient greeks thought that the youth were un-controllable because they were controlled by their womb
        • but he praises her for the way she looks after the house
          • suggests that he did love her
        • she doesn't get out often, her maid does things like shopping
          • frustrating
      • once she gives him a legitimate son he his more relaxed with her
        • she has done her duty as a wife
        • he trusts her
          • to show his affection he hands all his possessions over to her
      • men slept down stairs and women slept upstairs for safety
        • after the child is born the women move down stairs because water is downstairs so the mother doesn't have to travel downstairs In the middle of the night
        • he starts having sex with his slave girl not his wife
      • He didn't want to annoy her but he didn't want her to get her own way
      • admires her for being a clever housewife, economical and exact in her management
        • fulfilling her roles as a house wife
    • evidence that the wife is sleeping with Euphiletus
      • with her sleeping downstairs it is easy for her to sneak her lover in
        • he comes home  unexpectedly   from a visit to the country
          • the lover arrives but  the husband is here so the maid pinches the baby to make the baby cry and to get the wife's attention
          • she tells the husband that she doesn't trust him with the slave girls so she locks the door, this means she can sleep with her lover without being disturbed
          • he heard creaking in the night and the door shutting, this was her lover leaving
            • she told him that the baby's lamp had gone out so she'd gone round to borrow a lamp he trusted her
            • he's trusting
      • she started wearing make-up
        • this was disrespectful because she was In mourning for her deceased brother in law
      • approached by an old hag
        • sent by Eratosthenes previous mistress
        • tells his to interrogate his maid as his wife has been seduced
    • Eratosthenes
      • saw wife at Euphilethenes mother's funeral
    • maid
      • corrupted the wife's maid
        • who passed on his corrupting messages
      • Euphilethenes confronts the maid
        • he say she can either tell him the truth and be pardoned or he will send her to the tread-mill
          • a tread mill is a large wheels that uses man power to drive machinery
      • the maid is loyal to the wife and denies knowing anything
      • when Euphilethenes mentions Eratosthenes she begs him to take pity on her
        • she explains the details to how his wife was disloyal
        • he tells her that her will not punish her as long as she tells no one and helps him catch them in the act
    • the killing
      • Euphilethenes has a friend Sostratus staying
        • they dine and then go to bed
      • once Eratosthenes has arrived the maid wakens him
        • he then goes and collects male friends to act as witnesses
      • the men force the door open
        • he catches him in the act, knocks him down and puts his hands behind his back
          • he asks him why he committed this crime against him
          • he begs him to let him pay for his forgiveness
      • he says him must kill him for his disloyalty to the state
      • he was killed properly at the scene of the crime, not seized in the streets or killed at an alter while taking refuge like the prosecution alleges
      • the Law of Solomon makes this acceptable
        • adultery is such a bad thing that a man is aloud to kill even their concubines lover (law made by Areopagus)
        • an adulterer is worst than a ****** because your corrupting the mind of the wife

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