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[German version] (Πιττακός/ Pittakós: MSS; Φίττακος/ Phíttakos: MS 562, Alc., papyrus). Tyrant of Mytilene, early 6th cent. BC (Alc. 87 Diehl [2. vol. 1] = 348 Lobel/Page = Voigt), considered one of the Seven Sages (Pl. Prt. 343a; Diod. Sic. 9,11f.; Str. 13,2,3; Diog. Laert. 1,75 and 77; Plut. Mor. 147b et passim). His father, Hyrrhas (Alc. 24a Diehl = 129 Lobel/Page = Voigt) is said to have come from Thrace (Duris FGrH 76 F 75; Suda s.v. Π.), where the personal name P. is attested (Thuc. 4,107). In 607/6 BC (Jer. Chron. on 607/6), P. was strategos in the war with Athens over Sigeum (Str. …

(Ἱστιαῖος; Histiaîos). [German version] [1] Son of Lysagoras, tyrant of Miletus, approx. 513 BC Son of Lysagoras, tyrant of Miletus, spokesman for the Ionians on the Ister, urging to maintain the bridge for  Darius' [1] return from the Scythian campaign c. 513 BC with the argument that their  tyrannis depended on Darius (Hdt. 4,137). His disproportionately elaborate biography in Herodotus reveals two tendencies: he is the clever, ambitious hero without success; he is blamed for the negative course that the Ionian Revolt took [2. 486f.…

[German version] (Συλοσῶν/ Sylosôn). Younger brother of Polycrates [1] of Samos. With the latter he achieved tyrannis in about 540 BC, but was then expelled (Hdt. 3,39). Egypt c. 525 BC is the scene of an anecdote that made him the 'benefactor' ( euergétēs) of Darius [1] (Hdt. 3,139 f.). After the latter came to power in 522, S. won him over to making him the successor of Polycrates [1], who had been killed in the meantime. An army under Otanes [1] marched against Maeandrius [1], the tyrant ruling in Samos, (Hdt. 3,140-149) whose underha…

(τυραννίς/ tyrannís, Archaic Gk. also τυραννίη/ tyranníē; τύραννος/ týrannos; Latin tyrannus). [German version] I. Term; alterations in meaning Tyrannos (non-Greek loan-word, perhaps from Lydian tūran/'lord') is first attested around the mid-7th cent. as the term denoting the Lydian king Gyges [1] (Archil. 22,3 Diehl; fr. 19 West). Greek Archaic poetry used tyrannis synonymously with monarchía , but tyrannos was never used in self-presentation or as a title, but was used by aristocrats to attack a peer. This is exemplified in the polemic of Alcaeus[4]…

[German version] (μοναρχία/ monarchía, ‘rule by one’). In archaic Greek poetry synonymous with the term tyrannís more commonly encountered there; used first by Alcaeus [4] of Myrsilus [1] and Pittacus of Mytilene (Alcaeus 122 Diehl = 6,27 Lobel/Page = Voigt; 179,3 L./P. = Voigt; SLG 271,5f.). Following the perspective of aristocratic society, ‘rule’ was turned into a polemical and abstract concept: an opportunity to realize one's own fortune through power and wealth, thus destroying society …

[German version] (Πολύφρων/ Polýphrōn). Brother of Iason [2] of Pherae and in 370 BC his successor together with their brother Polydorus [7] (Xen. Hell. 6,4,33). He killed the latter (Xen. Hell. 6,4,33; erroneous: Alexander [15] Diod. Sic. 15,61,2) a short time after. "He turned the position as tagós   into a tyranny" by banishing citizens of Larisa and killing, among others in Pharsalus, Polydamas [3] (Xen. Hell. 6,4,34). His nephew Alexander [15] deposed him in 369 (Xen. Hell. 6,4,34; Plut. Pelopidas 29). Cobet, Justus (Essen) Bibliography H. Berve, Die Tyrannis bei den Griechen…

[German version] (Πασέας; Paséas). Tyrant of Sicyon, in 253/2 BC he succeeded his murdered son Abantidas, who had been tyrant since 264. He was in turn murdered a year later by Nicocles [4] (Plut. Aratus 2f.; Paus. 2,8,2). Cobet, Justus (Essen) Bibliography H. Berve, Die Tyrannis bei den Griechen, 1967, 394; 396.

[German version] (Μεγιστώ/ Megistṓ). Wife of one Timoleon. In Plutarchus' ‘Bravery of Women (which was probably inspired by Phylarchos' ‘tragic’ school of historiography) she is a moral example and the leader of the women's resistance against Aristotimus, the tyrant of Elis for six months in 271/270 BC (Plut. Mor. 252b-e). After the tyrannicide, hers is the sole heroic voice raised on behalf of the tyrant's young daughters who are now at the mercy of the furious mob (Plut. Mor. 253c-e). Cobet, Justus (Essen)

[German version] (Ἵπποκλος; Híppoklos). H., (probably the first) tyrant of Lampsacus, was supported by the Persians and took part in the Scythian campaign of  Darius [1] I c. 513 BC (Hdt. 4,138).  Hippias [1] of Athens concluded a marriage alliance with him through the marriage of his daughter Archedice with H.' son and successor Aeantides, which at the same time meant a move in the direction of the Persians (Thuc. 6,59) and possibly was a reason for Sparta's intervention in Athens in 511/510 BC [1. 301].  Tyrannis Cobet, Justus (Essen) Bibliography 1 D. M. Lewis, in: CAH 4, 21988. H. Be…

[German version] (Θεομήστωρ; Theomēstōr). Son of Androdamas from Samos, as a triḗrarchos in the Persian navy at the battle of Salamis [1] in 480 BC he sank Greek ships and was therefore installed as tyrant in Samos after Aeaces [2] (Hdt. 8,85). Without his knowledge the Samians negotiated with the Greek navy (Hdt. 9,90; cf. 9,103). When the Greeks assembled in Samos after their victory at Mycale in 479 (Hdt. 9,106), there is no further mention of T. Cobet, Justus (Essen) Bibliography H. Berve, Die Tyrannis bei den Griechen, 1967, 115 f.; 588  L. de Libero, Die archaische Tyrannis, 1996,…

(Σῖμος/ Sîmos). [German version] [1] Ruler in Larisa, 4th cent. BC Representative of a group of Aleuadae, ruler in Larisa [3] (Aristot. Pol. 1306a 26-30) about 358-344 BC; his name appears on coins of the city (HN p. 299). He gained his position from being a mediator (ἄρχων μεσίδιος/ árchōn mesídios, 'mediator plenipotentiary') in the oligarchic conflict, an example for Aristotle (contra [1. 503; 2. 295, 672; 3. 196; 4. 364-366]). The cruelty of his reaction to the killing of his brother was proverbial (Aristot. fr. 166 R.; Callim. fr. 588; sch…

[German version] (Πειθόλαος; Peithólaos). Third son of Iason [2] of Pherae. P. was involved in the murder of his brother-in-law Alexander [15] in 358 BC - this may have been the situation in which Isocrates's Epist. 6 to the sons of Iason was written - and in the tyrannies of the brothers Teisiphonus (358-355) and Lycophron [3] (355-352). He retreated with the latter after surrendering Pherae to Philippus [4] II of Macedon in 352 (Diod. Sic. 16,37,3); the two then supported Sparta in the Peloponnes…

(Ἀρισταγόρας; Aristagóras, Ionic Ἀρισταγόρης; Aristagórēs). [German version] [1] Tyrant of Cyzicus (end of the 6th cent. BC) Tyrant of Cyzicus, mentioned in Hdt. 4,138 because he supported the Persian king  Darius with a naval unit during his campaign against the Scythians about 513 BC [1. 87, 569]. Cobet, Justus (Essen) [German version] [2] Tyrant of Cyme (around 500 BC) Son of Heracleides, tyrant of Cyme, mentioned by Herodotes (4,138) as being important in the Aeolis along with A. [1]; he participated in the expedition against Naxos before the Ionia…

(Μύρσιλος; Mýrsilos). [German version] [1] Tyrant of Mytilene, c. end of the 7th cent. BC Pilloried as the ‘tyrant of Mytilene in the fragments of the lyric poet Alcaeus [4] (oldest documentary evidence for the word monarchía ), M. is therefore ranked by Strabo alongside Melanchrus and Pittacus (Str. 13,2,3). His name points to Lydia (Hdt. 1,7 and he was possibly part of the Cleanactid family (schol. to Alcaeus 112,23 Lobel-Page = Voigt). After Melanchrus' overthrow he became a tyrant and survived a conspiracy…

(Νικοκλῆς; Nikoklês). [German version] [1] King of Salamis on Cyprus, from 374/373 B.C. King of Salamis on Cyprus, son and, from 374/373 BC, successor of Euagoras [1] I. (Diod. Sic. 15,47,8). N. died, probably together with Strato of Sidon, in the so-called Uprising of the Satraps, the main phase of which took place c. 362-360 B.C. Although N. continued the philhellenic policies of his father (Philhellenism), Hellenistic forms of sovereignty and way of life already announced themselves in N., since Isocrates…

(Κλείταρχος; Kleítarchos). [German version] [1] Tyrant of Eretria 343/42-341 BC Tyrant of Eretria. Even as a banned exile C. unsuccessfully attempted in 349/8 BC to seize Eretria, e.g., with the help of Philip II against an Athenian army under Phocion (Aeschin. In Ctes. 86-88 with Schol. [1. 318, n. 2]). Philip's intervention in Euboea in 343 and 342 [1. 502f., 545-549] brought C. to power (Dem. Or. 8,36; 9,57f.; 18,71; 19,87). Phocion expelled him in 341 (Philochorus FGrH 328 F 160; Diod. Sic. 16,74,1).  Tyrannis Cobet, Justus (Essen) Bibliography 1 N. G. L. Hammond, G. T. Griffith,…

(Μάργος; Márgos). [German version] [1] Strategos 255 BC M. from Carynea, probably serving as nauarch of the Achaean fleet contingent during the Illyrian War, was killed in 229 BC near Paxos ‘after faithfully serving the koinon of the Achaeans ’(Pol. 2,10). During the reformation of the league, he killed the tyrant of Bura in 275, thus forcing Iseas, the tyrant of Carynea, to resign and to have his town join the league (Pol. 2,41). Before Aratus [2] he played a prominent part and in 255 he was the first to be elected sole strategos (Pol. 2,43). Cobet, Justus (Essen) [German version] [2] Ptolemai…

Patzek, Barbara (Wiesbaden) Cobet, Justus (Essen) I. General (CT) [German version] A. Introduction (CT) Homer sets his tale of the wrath of Achilles and the battle for Troy (T.) in a memorial landscape whose reality was entirely due to the epic and the history of its reception. Troy was placed on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1998, 130 years after Heinrich Schliemann first appeared on the site (fig. 1). Whoever "henceforth" sails the Hellespont by ship will gaze at the funeral mounds of the heroes, visible from afar, as we read in the Iliad (7,85-91 with reference to Ajax) and the Ody…

(Πολυδάμας/ Polydámas, in Homer with metrical lengthening Πουλυδάμας/ Poulydámas). [German version] [1] Trojan Trojan, son of Panthous. On the basis of his experience P. possesses an understanding of the past and the future. As an astute and level-headed counsellor he represents the pessimistic alter ego of Hector, the town’s defender, who was born on the same day as P. Nevertheless, at the decisive moment P.’ sensible advice (retreat into the town) is not taken heed of. At this occasion, his character is (n…

(Θρασύβουλος/ Thrasýboulos). [German version] [1] Tyrant of Miletus [2], ca. 600 BC Prýtanis or aisymnḗtēs, then tyrant (Aristot. Pol. 1305a 16-18) of Miletus [2], at the time of its greatest prosperity around the turn of the 7th to the 6th cent. BC; a contemporary of Thales (Diog. Laert. 1,27). According to Herodotus, T. was able to end a twelve-year war against the Lydian kings Sadyattes [2] and Alyattes (Hdt. 1,17-23; Polyaenus, Strat. 6,47) by a trick (Hdt. 1,22: pretended wealth), and to persuade Alyatte…