Legal History & Antics
It is undeniable that most laws are man-made. And by this I also mean it was made by men. While as a man, I am conscious of my privilege and how patriarchal laws do benefit men, legal and oratory history provide interesting context in which people have used oratory skill and sometimes dubious logic to manipulate the legal system in their favour. One such example is the case of Phryne of Athens.
Background – Athenian Gods and Beauty
The Athenians, their beliefs and their gods are well documented in modern pop culture. Thanks to movies such as Disney’s Hercules (which definitely misleads modern audience into believing Zeus was a family man) and Clash of the Titans, to games such as God of War, the Olympics to even the spectacular Stephen Fry’s audiobook Mythos, modern audiences are sort of aware of the Greek Pantheon and certain Athenian beliefs.
One aspect of Athenian culture that may not be as well publicised was their view on beauty. While heavily patriarchal in outlook, with women assigned a lesser role than men in Athenian society, beauty was assigned as a gift from the Gods. People who were beautiful were deemed to have been favoured by the Gods and therefore, their actions were more forgivable. This action of treating beautiful people favourably has not changed much some 2400 years later.
However, at the same time, Athenians were heavily superstitious and God fearing. Affronts to the Greek Pantheon were deemed punishable by death as displeasing the Gods could lead to famine, floods, war and all sorts of unpleasant consequences. Therefore, any sacrilegious and/or impious acts were deemed serious charges, akin to how we would view murder or drug trafficking in Malaysia.
Pretty Phryne
The Defendant in this case was a courtesan named Phryne. Phryne, to put it mildly, was beautiful. Her beauty allegedly inspired artisans to sculpt her as Aphrodite (the Goddess of Love and Beauty) which includes the first ever sculpture of a nude lady (1) and famously Apelles’ Aphrodite Anadyomene (more commonly known as Venus Anadyomene). Apelles is believed to have been inspired by the sight of Phryne emerging from the sea after bathing nude in celebration of festivals in favour of Poseidon. This would be the origin of every “hot babe emerging from the water” trope you see in modern movies and television.
The charge against Phryne was one of impiety. While sources do not specify what specific act committed by Phryne was impious, the prosecutor Euthias is credited with being highly effective. The judges were allegedly ready to pronounce capital punishment. Bearin mind, Phryne was being defended by her lover and one of the all-time greatest orators, Hypereides. To put into context, Hypereides is named as literally one of the ten greatest orators of the classical era.
Now, at this point, finding that his rhetoric could not turn the judges’ mind, it is alleged that Hypereides brought Phryne to the middle of the courtroom and disrobed her for all the judges to see.
Hypereides argued that such beauty was a gift from the Gods as only the Gods could sculpt a body so perfect. By his logic, by killing or imprisoning her, it would be tantamount to insulting the Gods or blasphemy as it would deprive the world of such a gift. It was reported that this, the highest oratorical art, was produced to excite the pity of her judges and inspire superstitious fear.
The Verdict and Consequence
Athenaeus reports the verdict as follows:
“They were so moved by pity as not to be able to stand the idea of condemning to death “a prophetess and priestess of Aphrodite” that she was acquitted”.
She was literally deemed too beautiful to have been impious by a court of law.
Conclusion
Clearly, the case, conduct and verdict would not likely be repeated in the modern age. In fact, the act of stripping Phryne and stating her beauty as her defense is subject to academic debate with some arguing that it never happened but that Phryne merely pleaded to the Judge's pity.
Nevertheless, it shows that we humans have always loved a good courtroom drama and would definitely want a damned good orator as defense counsel.
References:
(1) Aphrodite of Knidos sculpture depicting Aphrodite nude was based off Phryne
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