Cylon - Olympian Victor
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 winner 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, at the time, meant something different from our modern concept of tyrant as a cruel and oppressive despot. A tyrant in ancient Greece was little more than a leader who had overturned an existing regime and took control of government. Tyrants even had some measure of popular support, usually.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, but which festival? Cylon assumed it was the Olympic festival.Curse of the Alcmaeonids
Because Cylon lacked a broad base of support, perhaps because the Athenians feared Cylon would be a puppet of his father-in-law 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., the archon Megacles of the Alcmaeonids had them killed. 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. 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. Cylon and his brother escaped; however, they and their descendants were never to return again.
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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
