Pheidon

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Pheidon (8th or 7th century BC, gr. Φειδων) was king of Argos. At that time, the monarch was purely a traditional figurehead with almost no genuine power. Pheidon seized the throne from the reigning aristocracy, making him, in a sense, the first-ever tyrant. We do not, however, see him in the tradition of other tyrants, like Gyges, as a poor man usurping power. A fragment of Parian marble confirms him to have been a noble and places him as eleventh in line from Heracles.

According to tradition he flourished during the first half of the 8th century B.C. He was a vigorous and energetic ruler and greatly increased the power of Argos. He gradually regained sway over the various cities of the Argive confederacy, the members of which had become practically independent, and (in the words of Ephorus) reunited the broken fragments of the inheritance of Temenus. His object was to secure predominance for Argos in the north of Peloponnesus. According to Plutarch, he attempted to break the power of Corinth, by requesting the Corinthians to send him 1000 of their picked youths, ostensibly to aid him in war, his real intention being to put them to death; but the plot was revealed. Pheidon assisted the Pisatans to expel the Elean superintendents of the Olympian Games and presided at the festival himself. The Eleans, however, refused to recognize the Olympiad or to include it in the register, and shortly afterwards, with the aid of the Spartans, who are said to have looked upon Pheidon, as having ousted them from the headship of Greece, defeated Pheidon and were reinstated in the possession of Pisatis and their former privileges.

During his probable reign, the battle of Hyssae (in 668 B.C.) was fought in which the Argives defeated the Spartans. This is also about the time period that hoplite warfare was becoming current, particularly in Argos. It is probable that he was the originator of hoplite phalanx.

Aristotle, in "Politics", claims that he made changes to land reforms “family plots and the number of citizens should be kept equal, even if the citizens had all started with plots of unequal size.” We see a staunch tyrannical rule giver. Does this correspond with him acting as champion of the people (a common theme running through ancient tyranny), making sure everyone has the same land rights? He also claims that Pheidon started off as a king (basileus) and ended up a tyrant (tyrannos). The balance between these two types of ancient 'kingship' seem to have vague boundaries. When discussing the phenomenon of tyranny Aristotle comes to vague conclusions and often contradictions are observed.


Pheidon is said to have lost his life in a faction fight at Corinth, where the monarchy had recently been overthrown. The affair of the games has an important bearing on his date. Pausanias (vi. 22, 2) definitely states that Pheidon presided at the festival in the 8th Olympiad (i.e. in 748 B.C.), but in the list of the suitors of Agariste, daughter of Cleisthenes of Sicyon, given by Herodotus, there occurs the name of Leocedes (Lacedas), son of Pheidon of Argos. According to this, Pheidon must have flourished during the early part of the 6th century BC. It has therefore been assumed that Herodotus confused two Pheidons, both kings of Argos. The suggested substitution in the text of Pausanias of the 28th for the 8th Olympiad (i.e. 668 instead of 748) would not bring it into agreement with Herodotus, for even then, Pheidon's son could not have been a suitor in 570 for the hand of Agariste. But the story of Agaristes wooing resembles romance and has slight chronological value. On the whole, modern authorities assign Pheidon to the first half of the 7th century. Herodotus further states that Pheidon established a system of weights and measures throughout Peloponnesus, to which Ephorus and the Parian Chronicle add that he was the first to coin silver money, and that his mint was at Aegina. But according to the better authority of Herodotus (i. 94) and Xenophanes of Colophon, the Lydians were the first coiners of money at the beginning of the 7th century, and, further, the oldest known Aeginetan coins are of later date than Pheidon. Hence, unless a later Pheidon is assumed, the statement of Ephorus must be considered unhistorical. No such difficulty occurs in regard to the weights and measures; it is generally agreed that a system was already in existence in the time of Pheidon, into which he introduced certain changes. A passage in the Aristotelian Constitution of Athens states that the measures used before the Solonian period of reform were called Pheidonian. He mentions "a peidon would be a jar of olive oil, names from the Pheidonian measurements." It is mentioned that Solon reforms these measurements from the 70 drachmae of the Pheidonian coins to the 100 drachamae coins.

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Phaedon, or Pheidon (9th, 8th, or 7th century BCE), king and then tyrant of Argos. Originally, as was true of all Greek monarchies of their Archaic period--which is itself of debatable time and duration (here, c. 900 - 550 BCE) a council of nobles restricted his powers. His primary role was that of chief or high priest and often the arbiter in disputes. In times of necessity, it fell to him to lead the citizenry in wars both defensive and aggressive. Phaedon seized power from the reigning aristocracy, making him perhaps the first tyrant. However, We do not find him as some tyrants, Gyges, for instance, a poor man of lowly birth usurping power to elevate his status. A fragment of Parian marble confirms Phaedon a noble and eleventh in descent from the demigod Herakles. According to tradition, he flourished during the first half of the 8th century B.C. He was a vigorous and energetic ruler and greatly increased the power of Argos. He gradually regained sway over the various cities of the Argive confederacy, the members of which had become practically independent. According to Ephorus, Phaedon "Reunited the broken fragments of the inheritance of Temenus."" His object was to secure predominance for Argos in the north of Peloponnesus. According to Plutarch, he attempted to break the power of Corinth by requesting the Corinthians to send him 1000 of their picked youths, ostensibly to aid him in war, while his true intention was to put them to death. Fortunately, the plot was discovered before it or the Corinthian youths could be executed. Phaedon assisted the Pisatans in expelling the Elean superintendents of the Olympian games and himself presided at the festival. The Eleans, however, refused to recognize the Olympiad or include it in the official register. Shortly afterwards the Spartans, Argos' most determined rival in and for the Peloponnese and, at the time, the headship of all Hellas, intervened. The Lacedaemonians fought and defeated the combined Argive and Elean force, then reinstated Pisa in its Olympic proprietorship. During his probable reign, the battle of Hyssae (in 668 BCE) was fought in which the Argives defeated the Spartans. This is also about the time hoplite warfare came into wide use, particularly in Argos. The Argive tyrant might have originated the hoplite phalanx.

Aristotle in 'Politics' states he made changes to land reforms: “…Family plots and the number of citizens should be kept equal, even if the citizens had all started with plots of unequal size.” We see a staunch fair-minded law giver. He also states that Phaedon was the king (basileus) and became the tyrant (tyrannos). The balance between these two types of ancient 'kingship' seems to have vague boundaries. When discussing the phenomenon of tyranny Aristotle comes to vague conclusions and often contradictions are observed.


Phaedon is said to have lost his life in a faction fight at Corinth, where the monarchy had recently been overthrown. The affair of the games has an important bearing on this date. Pausanias (vi. 22, 2) definitely states that Phaedon presided at the festival in the 8th Olympiad (i.e. in 748 B.C.), but in the list of the suitors of Agariste, daughter of Cleisthenes of Sicyon, given by Herodotus, there occurs the name of Leocedes (Lacedas), son of Phaedon of Argos. According to this, Phaedon must have flourished during the early part of the 6th century BC. It has therefore been assumed that Herodotus confused two Phaedons, both kings of Argos. The suggested substitution in the text of Pausanias of the 28th for the 8th Olympiad (i.e. 668 instead of 748) would not bring it into agreement with Herodotus, for even then. Phaedon's son could not have been a suitor in 570 for the hand of Agariste. The story of Agaristes wooing resembles romance and has slight chronological value. Most modern authorities assign Phaedon to the first half of the 7th century. Herodotus further states that Phaedon established a system of weights and measures throughout Peloponnesus that Ephorus and the Parian Chronicle add he was the first to coin silver money, and that his mint was at Aegina. But, according to the better authority of Herodotus (i. 94) and Xenophanes of Colophon, the Lydians were the first coiners of money at the beginning of the 7th century. Furthermore, the oldest known Aeginetan coins are of later date than those of Phaedon. Hence, unless a later Phaedon is assumed, the statement of Ephorus must be considered unhistorical. No such difficulty occurs regarding the weights and measures; it is agreed that a system was already in existence in the time of Phaedon, into which he introduced certain changes. A passage in the Aristotelian 'Constitution of Athens' states that the measures used before the Solonian period of reform were called Phaedonian. He mentions "a peidon would be a jar of olive oil, names from the Pheidonian measurements." It is mentioned that Solon reforms these measurements from the 70 drachmae of the Phaedonian coins to the 100 drachamae coins.