Editing Solon (section)

==Biography==

=== Early life and ancestry ===
[[File:Solon in Vatican Museums.JPG|thumb|Bust of Solon in [[Vatican Museums]]]]Solon was born in Athens around 630 BC.<ref name=eb /> His family was distinguished in [[Attica]] as they belonged to a noble or [[Eupatrid]] clan.<ref name="autogenerated5"/> Solon's father was probably Execestides. If so, his lineage could be traced back to [[Codrus]], the last [[King of Athens]].<ref>"Solon" in Magill, Frank N. (ed)., ''The Ancient World: Dictionary of World Biography'' (Salem Press/Routledge, 1998), p. 1057.</ref> According to [[Diogenes Laërtius]], he had a brother named Dropides, who was an ancestor (six generations removed) of [[Plato]].<ref>Diogenes Laërtius, ''The Lives and Opinions of Famous Philosophers'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0258:book=3:chapter=1&highlight=dropides Book 3 "Plato", chapter 1].</ref> According to Plutarch, Solon was related to the [[tyrant]] [[Pisistratus]], for their mothers were cousins.<ref>Plutarch ''Solon'' 1 [[s:Lives (Dryden translation)/Solon#1]].</ref> Solon was eventually drawn into the unaristocratic pursuit of commerce.<ref>[[s:Plutarch's Lives (Clough)/Life of Solon|Plutarch, ''Life of Solon'', ch. 2]]</ref>

=== Defeat of Megara ===
When Athens and its neighbor and rival in the [[Saronic Gulf]], [[Megara]], were contesting the possession of [[Salamis Island|Salamis]], Solon was made leader of the Athenian forces. After repeated disasters, Solon was able to improve the morale of his troops through a nationalist poem he wrote about the island. Supported by Pisistratus, he defeated the Megarians either by means of a cunning trick<ref name="autogenerated6"/> or more directly through heroic battle around 595 BC.<ref>Plutarch ''Solon'' 9 [[s:Lives/Solon#9]]</ref> The Megarians, however, refused to give up their claim. The dispute was referred to the Spartans, who eventually awarded possession of the island to Athens on the strength of the case that Solon put to them.<ref name="autogenerated7">Plutarch, [[s:Lives (Dryden translation)/Solon#9|''Solon'' 9]]</ref>  Plutarch professes admiration of Solon's elegy.<ref name="autogenerated6">Plutarch, [[s:Lives (Dryden translation)/Solon#8|''Solon'' 8]]</ref> The same poem was said by [[Diogenes Laërtius]] to have stirred Athenians more than any other verses that Solon wrote:

{{poemquote|
Let us go to Salamis to fight for the island
We desire, and drive away from our bitter shame!<ref>Solon, quoted in Diogenes Laërtius 1.47</ref>}}

One fragment describes assorted breads and cakes:
<ref name=wilkins>{{cite book |last1=Wilkins |first1=John M. |title=Food in the Ancient World |url=https://archive.org/details/foodancientworld00wilk |url-access=limited |date=2006 |publisher=Blackwell |page=[https://archive.org/details/foodancientworld00wilk/page/n144 128]}}</ref>

{{quote|They drink and some nibble honey and sesame cakes ({{lang|grc-Latn|itria}}), others their bread, other {{lang|grc-Latn|gouroi}} mixed with lentils. In that place, not one cake was unavailable of all those that the black earth bears for human beings, and all were present unstintingly.{{efn|The place of abundance described in Solon's fragment about cakes is unknown. Some authors speculate that it may have been [[Persia]] based on comments from Herodotus that cake was the most significant part of a meal, one of the Greek city-states, or even a literary allusion to 'paradise'. Though [[Athenaeus]] is not able to identify the ''hours'' cake from Solon's poem, he describes it as a {{lang|grc-Latn|[[plakous]]}} indicating it was a type of 'flat cake'. Similar cakes are described by [[Philoxenus of Cythera]].<ref name=wilkins/>}}}}
[[File:Solon demands to pledge respect for his laws.jpg|thumb|"Solon demands to pledge respect for his laws", book illustration (Augsburg 1832)]]

=== Archonship ===
According to Diogenes Laertius, in 594 BC, Solon was chosen [[Eponymous archon|archon]], or chief magistrate.<ref>[http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/solon.html Solon of Athens<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Solon repealed all of Draco's laws except those relating to homicide.<ref>Plutarch, ''Solon'' [[wikisource:Lives (Dryden translation)/Solon#17|17]].</ref>   

During Solon's time, many [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] city-states had seen the emergence of [[tyrant]]s, opportunistic [[noblemen]] who had taken power on behalf of sectional interests.{{efn|In [[Sicyon]], [[Cleisthenes of Sicyon|Cleisthenes]] had usurped power on behalf of an [[Ionians|Ionian]] minority. In [[Megara]], [[Theagenes of Megara|Theagenes]] had come to power as an enemy of the local [[oligarchy|oligarchs]]. The son-in-law of Theagenes, an Athenian nobleman named [[Cylon of Athens|Cylon]], made an unsuccessful attempt to seize power in Athens in 632 BC.}} Solon was described by Plutarch as having been temporarily awarded [[autocratic]] powers by Athenian citizens on the grounds that he had the wisdom to sort out their differences for them in a peaceful and equitable manner.<ref>Plutarch ''Solon'' 14 [[wikisource:Lives (Dryden translation)/Solon#14|s:Lives (Dryden translation)/Solon#14]]</ref> Some modern scholars believe these powers were in fact granted some years after Solon had been archon, when he would have been a member of the [[Areopagus]] and probably a more respected statesman by his peers.<ref>Stanton G.R. ''Athenian Politics c. 800–500 BC: A Sourcebook'', Routledge, London (1990), p. 36.</ref><ref>Hignett C. ''A History of the Athenian Constitution to the End of the Fifth Century B.C.'' (Oxford University Press 1952).</ref><ref>Miller, M. ''Arethusa'' 4 (1971) 25–47.</ref>  

As archon, Solon discussed his intended reforms with some friends. Knowing that he was about to cancel all debts, these friends took out loans and promptly bought some land. Suspected of complicity, Solon complied with his own law and released his own debtors, amounting to five [[talent (measurement)|talent]]s (or 15 according to some sources). His friends never repaid their debts.<ref>Plutarch ''Solon'' 15 [[s:Lives (Dryden translation)/Solon#15]]</ref>

=== Travels ===
[[File:Atlantis map 1882 crop.jpg|thumb|Solon is Plato's source for the story of Atlantis]]
After completing his work of reform, Solon surrendered his extraordinary authority and traveled abroad for ten years, so that the Athenians could not induce him to repeal any of his laws.<ref>Herodotus, The Histories, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D29 Hdt. 1.29]</ref>{{efn|According to [[Herodotus]]<ref>Herodotus 1.29 (e.g. Campbell's translation [[gutenberg:2707|2707]]).</ref> the country was bound by Solon to maintain his reforms for 10 years, whereas according to [[Plutarch]]<ref name="ReferenceA" /> and the author of the ''[[Constitution of the Athenians (Aristotle)|Athenian Constitution]]''<ref>''Athenaion Politeia'' [[wikisource:Athenian Constitution#7|7.2]].</ref> (reputedly [[Aristotle]]) the contracted period was instead 100 years. A modern scholar<ref>Stanton, G. R. ''Athenian Politics c. 800–55 BC: A Sourcebook'' Routledge, London (1991), p. 84.</ref> considers the time-span given by Herodotus to be historically accurate because it fits the 10 years that Solon was said to have been absent from the country.<ref>Plutarch, ''Solon'' [[wikisource:Lives (Dryden translation)/Solon#25|25.6]].</ref>}}

Within four years of Solon's departure, the old social rifts re-appeared, but with some new complications. There were irregularities in the new governmental procedures, elected officials sometimes refused to stand down from their posts and occasionally important posts were left vacant. It has even been said that some people blamed Solon for their troubles.<ref>''Athenaion Politeia'' [[wikisource:Athenian Constitution#13|13]].</ref> Eventually one of Solon's relatives, Pisistratus, ended the factionalism by force, thus instituting an unconstitutionally gained [[Tyrant|tyranny]]. In Plutarch's account, Solon accused Athenians of stupidity and cowardice for allowing this to happen.<ref>Plutarch, ''Solon'' [[wikisource:Lives (Dryden translation)/Solon#30|30]].</ref>

Solon's first stop in his travels was Egypt. There, according to Herodotus, he visited the Pharaoh of Egypt, [[Amasis II]].<ref>Herodotus, ''The Histories'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D30 Hdt. 1.30]</ref> According to Plutarch, he spent some time and discussed philosophy with two Egyptian priests, Psenophis of [[Heliopolis (Ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]] and [[Sonchis of Sais]].<ref name="autogenerated8">Plutarch ''Solon'' 26 [[s:Lives (Dryden translation)/Solon#26]]</ref> A character in two of Plato's dialogues, ''[[Timaeus (dialogue)|Timaeus]]'' and ''[[Critias (dialogue)|Critias]]'', claims Solon visited [[Neith]]'s temple at [[Sais]] and received from the priests there an account of the history of [[Atlantis]]. Next, Solon sailed to [[Cyprus]], where he oversaw the construction of a new capital for a local king, in gratitude for which the king named it [[Soloi]].<ref name="autogenerated8" />

[[File:Kroisos stake Louvre G197.jpg|thumb|[[Croesus]] awaits fiery execution ([[Attica|Attic]] red-figure [[amphora]], 500–490 BC, [[Louvre]] G 197)]]

Solon's travels finally brought him to [[Sardis]], capital of [[Lydia]]. According to Herodotus and Plutarch, he met with [[Croesus]] and gave the Lydian king advice, which Croesus failed to appreciate until it was too late. Croesus had considered himself to be the happiest man alive and Solon had advised him, "Count no man happy until he be dead." The reasoning was that at any minute, fortune might turn on even the happiest man and make his life miserable. It was only after he had lost his kingdom to the Persian king [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]], while awaiting execution, that Croesus acknowledged the wisdom of Solon's advice.<ref>Herodotus 1.30.</ref><ref>Plutarch ''Solon'' 28 [[s:Lives (Dryden translation)/Solon#28]]</ref>

=== Death and legacy ===
After his return to Athens, Solon became a staunch opponent of Pisistratus. In protest, and as an example to others, Solon stood outside his own home in full armour, urging all who passed to resist the machinations of the would-be tyrant. His efforts were in vain. Solon died shortly after Pisistratus usurped by force the autocratic power that Athens had once freely bestowed upon him.<ref>Plutarch, [[s:Lives (Dryden translation)/Solon#32|''Solon'' 32]]</ref> Solon died in Cyprus around the age of 70{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} and, in accordance with his will, his ashes were scattered around Salamis, the island where he was born.<ref>Diogenes Laertius 1.62</ref><ref>I. M. Linforth, ''Solon the Athenian'', University of California Press (1919), p. 308, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZwEdAAAAYAAJ&q=solon+place+of+death Google Books link]</ref>

[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] listed Solon among the [[Seven Sages of Greece|Seven Sages]], whose aphorisms adorned [[Temple of Apollo (Delphi)|Apollo's temple]] in [[Delphi]].<ref>Pausanias 10.24.1 (e.g. Jones and Omerod trans. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias10B.html]).</ref> [[Stobaeus]] in the Florilegium relates a story about a [[symposium]] where Solon's young nephew was singing a poem of [[Sappho]]'s: Solon, upon hearing the song, asked the boy to teach him to sing it. When someone asked, "Why should you waste your time on it?", Solon replied, "{{lang|grc|ἵνα μαθὼν αὐτὸ ἀποθάνω}}", "So that I may learn it before I die."<ref>Stobaeus, III, 29, 58, taken from a lost work of [[Claudius Aelianus|Aelian]].</ref> [[Ammianus Marcellinus]], however, told a similar story about [[Socrates]] and the poet [[Stesichorus]], quoting the philosopher's rapture in almost identical terms: {{lang|la|ut aliquid sciens amplius e vita discedam}},<ref>Ammianus Marcellinus 38.4</ref> meaning "in order to leave life knowing a little more".