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Καὶ σαφῶς τύραννος ἦν: Xenophon's Account of Euphron of Sicyon*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 February 2012

Sian Lewis
Sian Lewis
Affiliation:
University of Wales Cardiff
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Abstract

Xenophon's account of Euphron, tyrant at Sicyon from 368 to 366, appears to present him as a typical fourth-century ‘new tyrant’, dependent on mercenaries and concerned solely with his own power. But why did Xenophon choose to recount Euphron's actions and fate at such length, and why does he insist so strongly that he was a tyrant? Xenophon's interest in Euphron is part of his general approach to tyranny in the Hellenica, which depicts a series of individuals and regimes, all described as tyrannies. The model of tyranny with which Xenophon operates is broader and more inclusive than we would expect, contrasting with the narrow, constitutional idea of tyranny defined by Aristotle. Understanding this has two consequences. It allows us to appreciate Euphron in a new light, giving credit to the positive tradition about his support for the Sicyonian democracy and his posthumous heroization; we can see the debate which existed in his own time about his role and position. It also raises the question of why Xenophon recognized tyranny in so many places, and was so keen to emphasize his construction of these regimes. We need to situate him within the evolution of ideas about tyranny, since the concept of tyranny is largely constructed by historians: Herodotus ‘created’ tyranny in the aftermath of the Persian Wars, while Thucydides developed the concept from the individual to the general, as this better fitted his Athenocentric model. Xenophon, in contrast, was reflecting contemporary debates over the interpretation of different types of ruler and regime, and developing his own theory of tyranny. Therefore to see a ‘new tyranny’ movement in the fourth century is misplaced: an examination of Euphron reveals the complexities of self-presentation in fourth-century Greek politics.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Hellenic Studies , Volume 124 , November 2004 , pp. 65 - 74
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies 2004

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References

1 On the chronology of Euphron, see Meloni, R., ‘La tirannide de Eufrone I in Sicione’, RFIC 29 (1951) 10–33Google Scholar; Griffin, A., Sikyon (Oxford 1982) 71Google Scholar; Gehrke, H.-J., Stasis (Munich 1985) 370–2.Google Scholar

2 Diod. Sic. 15.70.3:

Ἃμα δὲ τούτοις πραττομένοις Εὔφρων ό Σικυώνιος, διαφέρων θράσει καὶ άπονοίᾳ, συνεργοὺς λαβών Ἀργείους ἐπέθετο τυραννίδι. κρατήσας δὲ τῆς ἐπτβολῆς τετταράκοντα τούς εὐπορωτάτους τῶν Σικυωνίων ἐφυγάδευσε, δημεύσας αύτῶν τὰς οὐσίας, καὶ πολλῶν χρημάτων κυριεύσας μισθοφόρους ἥθροισε καὶ τῆς πόλεως ἐδυνάστευσεν.

At the same time as these events, Euphron of Sicyon, a man notorious for rashness and folly, made an attempt on tyranny with the assistance of the Argives. After his successful coup he exiled forty of the wealthiest Sicyonians and confiscated their property; and now commanding large sums of money, he assembled a mercenary force and ruled over the city.

3 Mossé, C., La tyrannie dans la Grèce antique (Paris 1969)Google Scholar Part 2, ch. 3 (Les épigones); Mandel, J., ‘Zur Geschichte des coup d'état von Euphron I in Sikyon’, Euphrosyne 8 (1977) 93–107Google Scholar; Berve, H., Die Tyrannis bei den Griechen (Munich 1967) 305–7.Google Scholar

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5 Dionysius I's ascent to power is recounted in Diod. 13.92–3.

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8 See Krentz, P., Xenophon Hellenika I–II.3.10 (Warminster 1989) 108–9Google Scholar on Hell. 1.1.37.

9 Hell. 6.2.33, 7.1.20, 22.

10 IG II2 18 (393 BC); IG II2 103 (368); IG II2 105 and 523 (368/7).

11 Arist. Rhet. 1401a34, cf. Quint. 3.6.26, 7.4.44; Lysias 12.35. See Tuplin (n.7) 44 n.7.

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19 Hell. 6.4.32.

20 Hell. 6.4.34.

21 Hell. 6.4.35.

22 Arist. Pol. 1310 a 39–1313 a 17, 1313 a 34–1315 b 10.

23 Pol. 1277 a 24–5.

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30 De Ste Croix (n.4) 297.

31 A later Athenian inscription honouring Euphron II, grandson of the tyrant, also hints at a possible longstanding link with Athens, whence Euphron I's mercenary assistance in 366/5 was drawn: IG II2 448; see Schwenk, C.J., Athens in the Age of Alexander. The Dated Laws and Decrees of ‘the Lykourgan Era’ 338–322 BC (Chicago 1985)Google Scholar no. 83, Griffin (n.1) 75–7 and Meloni (n.1).

32 Whitehead (n.4), further discussed in Cartledge, P.A., ‘Euphron and the douloi again’, LCM 5.9 (1980) 209–11.Google Scholar

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34 Plut. Aratus 53.3–4.

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40 The presence of a tyrant at this point seems anomalous, and Badian (‘Alexander the Great and the Greeks of Asia’, in Badian, E. (ed.), Ancient Society and Institutions. Studies presented to V. Ehrenberg (Oxford 1966) 37–69Google Scholar) saw Hegesias as rather an ex-tyrant, that is, a member of the oligarchy who had been recalled. Bosworth (n.37) 132 suggests that the Macedonian reaction to the murder is stronger than the killing of an ex-oligarch would seem to warrant, and it is therefore more likely that he was the incumbent democratic leader.

41 Responses to Theramenes in Athens offer another illustration of such polarization; see Harding, P., ‘The Theramenes myth’, Phoenix 28 (1974) 101–11CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and Engels, J., ‘Der Michigan-Papyrus über Theramenes und die Ausbildung des “Theramenes-Mythos”’, ZPE 99 (1993) 125–55.Google Scholar

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43 Expressed most clearly at 5.78; also at 3.80–3 and 7.102–4. The most recent treatment of the theme is Dewald, C., ‘Form and content: the question of tyranny in Herodotus’, in Morgan, K.A. (ed.), Popular Tyranny. Sovereignty and its Discontents in Ancient Greece (Austin 2003) 25–58.Google Scholar

44 R.G. Osborne, ‘Changing the discourse’, in Morgan (n.43).

45 Hdt. 6.104; Thuc. 2.30 and 33; Diod. Sic. 11.86.4–5 (Tyndarides), 11.88.6, 12.8.1–2, 12.29.1 (Duketios), 13.75.2–9 (Hermocrates); also Diog. Laert. 8.63 (Empedocles). See Berve (n.3) 171–89, 207–16.

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48 Some early tyrants were, of course, subsumed into the tradition of ‘Wise Men’: Pittacus of Mytilene and Periander of Corinth both figure in lists of the ‘Seven Sages’ remembered for their lawgiving and wise advice: Diog. Laert. 1.41–2. Pl. Prt. 343a, Plut. Conv. sept. sap. and Paus. 10.24.1 include Pittacus but not Periander.