Olympic Athlete
It would be hard to overstate the importance of an Olympian victory to the people of ancient Greece. It made instant celebrities of the winners. They could even feed at public expense for the rest of their lives. Cylon, an Athenian nobleman or eupatrid, was one such Olympic athlete whose victory in 640 B.C. also won him the daughter of Theagenes, the tyrant of Megara [see map section I e-f], for his wife.A tyrant, in the seventh century B.C., meant something different from our modern concept of tyrant as a cruel and oppressive despot. A tyrant was a usurper in ancient Greece. Think coup d'etat. He was a leader who had overturned an existing regime and took control of government. Tyrants even had some measure of popular support, usually.
As an aside, although the Roman emperors weren't technically tyrants, some of the most infamous emperors, like Domitian and Nero, also had popular support. What they were lacking was support from the ruling class. In the case of a Greek tyrants, it's obvious why this could be the case -- the previous ruler been ousted.
Botched Coup
Cylon wished to become tyrant of Athens. It is possible he had radical reforming tendencies that would have appealed to poor farmers. Even if he did not, he must have counted on their support, but it never came. Backed mainly by his father-in-law Theagenes' threatening forces, Cylon attacked the Acropolis. He thought he had selected an auspicious day, but his interpretation of the Delphic Oracle had been wrong (according to Thucydides). The Oracle had told him that he could become tyrant during the great festival of Zeus. Zeus was honored on more than one annual occasion and Cylon had made assumptions without adequate information. Cylon assumed it was the Olympic festival.Curse of the Alcmaeonids
Cylon lacked a broad base of support, perhaps because the Athenians feared Cylon would be a puppet of his father-in-law, so his plot failed. To save their lives, some of his fellow conspirators sought sanctuary in the Temple of Athena Polias. Unfortunately for them, in 632 B.C., Megacles of the Alcmaeonids was archon. He ordered the killing of Cylon's supporters.This was unexpected. Just as today, sanctuary meant a place where refugees expect to be safe from pursuit. To violate the rules of sanctuary was deemed sacrilege.
Historian J.B. Bury says there was probably a clan feud in the background to explain such extreme behavior. For their sacrilege, the Alcmaeonids were cursed and driven from Athens, but their banishment was only temporary. The Alcmaeonids eventually returned to Athens where they produced a few important Athenian leaders.
Although his supporters were killed, Cylon and his brother managed to escape. Neither they nor their descendants were ever to return to Athens.
Next Page: Draco
1, 2, 3, Greek Terms
Features on Democracy in Ancient Greece and the Rise of Democracy
Sources:"Solon and the Megarian Question," by A. French. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 77, Part 2. (1957), pp. 238-246.
Pericles of Athens and the Birth of Democracy, by Donald Kagan
The Greek City States: A Sourcebook, by P.J. Rhodes
The Rise of the Greeks, by Michael Grant
History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great, by J. B. Bury
