600-575BC in Greece

Vase by the Pholoe Painter, active around 580BC

This post will look at Greece and the wider Greek world from the years 600BC to 575BC. Firstly a word as to our sources. By and large, the closer we move to the present, the better the sources become. Archaeology will shed some light on the period, but not much. Archaeology can give information on settlement patterns and occasional destruction levels, but it cannot tell the stories of the people who lived at this time. For this we are reliant on later writings from the classical world. Unlike the Mesopotamian and Egyptian sources, at least some of which are near contemporary with the events they describe, we have almost no manuscripts from this era, so most of what we hear will be mediated through the words of later writers. This is not necessarily an issue but it should be remembered.

Chalice from Chios

I will also be dealing with elements of Roman history as these arise. I will shortly give Rome its own posts, but for now there is too little that can be said with certainty about it, so I will mention it along with the events of the Greek world. Roman history will probably also be mentioned in the context of European history in later blogs as well.

I must reiterate that I am not a professional historian, or any other type of historian for that matter. There are certainly mistakes and errors in the sources and I may make mistakes in my interpretations of these sources. Mistakes are particularly likely to occur when dealing with years, as the years in the ancient world do not necessarily correspond exactly to our own. Even professional historians have differing opinions on the exact ordering of events at this time, so exact precision is not likely here. Also, a lot of events have only approximate dating anyway, so some historians will place an event in 590 while another might say 580 and the truth is that no one knows for sure, although some opinions are more founded than others.

Modern statue of Cleobulus at Lindos

Also, a lot of writers and poets of the time are active for various periods of time. Thus I might mention Cleobulus as being active in the year 601-600 but he was doubtless also active and writing poetry in the years around this time as well.

I will now recap the events that happened in or around the years 601-600BC. The poets Arion and Cleobulus supposedly flourished in or around this time, although I am not entirely convinced that Arion even existed.

Cleobulus was a citizen of the city of Lindus in Rhodes and may well have been the tyrant of that city. But this is not certain by any means. He was a poet and a traveller, who may have travelled to Egypt and spent time among the wise men of the Egyptians (this is probably a later myth). He educated his daughter Cleobulina well and she would go on to become a renowned writer herself. Not much is known of Cleobulus save that he wrote epitaphs and riddles. But despite the fact that later sources do not speak much of him, we do know that he was accounted among the Seven Sages of Greece. He flourished around the latter end of the 7th century BC so it is sufficient to make mention of him here.

Periander of Corinth:
Later Roman era bust in
Vatican Museum

The father is one, the sons twelve, and each of these has twice thirty daughters of features twain; some are white and others are black, and though they be immortal they all perish.
A riddle of Cleobulus preserved in Diogenes Laertius’ Lives of the Philosophers, written perhaps around 200AD? The answer is "a year"

The poet Arion also is supposed to have flourished around this time and was provided for by Periander the tyrant of Corinth. He may have been from the island of Lesbos and he was said to have been a great lyre-player and to have been instrumental in making dithyrambs, which were hymns to Dionysus the god of wine. None of his works survive to my knowledge but there is a striking legend that sees the poet being taken prisoner while at sea, playing his lyre before being thrown into the deep and then being saved from drowning by dolphins. The dolphins had gathered to hear his song and carried him to safety.

At first glance, this seems like an entirely frivolous legend but dolphins are notoriously friendly and have been known to save people in contemporary times. So, it is unlikely but it is at the very edge of possibility that the story is true. However, a second glance makes it even more unlikely, as there are legends of Dionysus being captured by pirates and turning the pirates into dolphins. So if a poet who glorified a god was saved by the creatures of that god? Well, it certainly sounds like an almost certain myth, but with the very faintest outer possibility that there might be a grain of truth to the story.

Amphora of Massalia

Periander was despot of Corinth. During his lifetime, according to the Corinthians – and indeed the Lesbians – a very marvellous thing took place, namely the rescue of Arion of Methymna from the sea at Taenarum by a dolphin. This Arion was the finest singer to the lyre then known, and is the first recorded composer of dithyrambs, which he named and trained Corinthian choirs to perform. It seems that he spent most of his life at the court of Periander; but one day conceiving a desire to visit Italy and Sicily, he did so, and some time afterwards, having made large sums of money there, determined to return to Corinth. Accordingly he set sail from Tarentum, chartering a vessel manned by Corinthians, a people whom he thought, of all men, he could trust. But when they reached the open sea the crew conspired to secure his money by throwing him overboard . . . Putting on all his harper’s dress and grasping his lyre, he took his stand in the stern-sheets, and went through the Orthian or High-pitched Nome from beginning to end. Then he threw himself just as he was, dress and all, into the sea. The crew continued their voyage to Corinth; but meanwhile a dolphin, it seems, took Arion upon his back and carried him ashore at Taenarum . . . There is a small bronze votive-offering of Arion on the promontory of Taenarum, consisting of a man upon a dolphin’s back.
Herodotus Histories 1. 23, written around 440’s BC

In 600, Smyrna fell to the Lydians. The King of Lydia, Alyattes II, had attacked it and Smyrna was left in ruins for many years after this. The poet Mimnermus may have died in this battle.

Also, although the exact year is uncertain, it seems that around this time an assassination attempt was launched against Myrsilus of Mytilene. Previous tyrants had been assassinated by the noble groups and Pittacus was again involved. But this time Pittacus may have betrayed the conspiracy and a number of the aristocrats, including Alcaeus and possibly Sappho, were banished. This may have occurred around 593 however. The dates here are quite inexact.

The Olympic Games were held this year and Anticrates of Epidaurus won the Stadion race. The other winners are not recorded by history.

Drawing of the ruins of Paestum, drawn in the 19th century

Elsewhere the process of colonisation went on apace. The city of Massalia was founded by Greeks from the Ionian city of Phocaea. This was the first Greek settlement in what is now France and would go on to become one of the most significant western colonies. Supposedly the founding was opposed by the Carthaginians but their fleet was defeated and the Greeks founded their city in alliance with the local Ligurian tribe. Massalia would later become the main trading emporium for the Greeks in their trade with the Celts.

The city of Poseidonia was also founded around this time on the west coast of southern Italy. This name was later changed to Paestum and later to Pesto. Sadly this is not the etymology of the food “pesto”. It was not an important city in antiquity but is known today for some of the best preserved Greek temples of the ancient world. These however would be built much later.

Not in hewn stones, nor in well-fashioned beams,
Not in the noblest of the builder's dreams,
But in courageous men of purpose great,
There is the fortress, there the living State.
The Bulwark of the State, Poem by Alcaeus

Sappho and Alcaeus: 1881 painting by Lawrence Alma-Tadema

Alcaeus of Mytilene also flourished around this time. He was a contemporary of Pittacus and was quite antagonistic to him, because of Pittacus' betrayal of the conspiracy to murder Myrsilus. He was a lyric poet and famed in later antiquity. He was a soldier of fortune and his brother was a mercenary for the Babylonians (possibly taking part in the siege of Askelon. Strangely, if his brother Antimenides was fighting against the Philistines, Alcaeus boasts in a poem of his slaying a giant slightly over 15 feet tall (or over 4.5 metres). Allowing for no problems in the translation and allowing for a considerable amount of poetic exaggeration, it might suggest that the Philistines had a tradition of fielding large warriors in battle. Alcaeus actively participated in the political intrigue of Mytilene at the time and fell afoul of Pittacus, who apparently pardoned him. He would later be a poetic contemporary of Sappho, who was also from Mytilene.

From the end of the world thou hast just returned,
And an ivory-hilted sword hast thou earned,
A sword which is all overlaid with gold,
A magnificent prize for thy labours bold,
Which by Babylon's men was given to thee;
For thou from their troubles thine allies didst free.
Thou slew a royal warrior, a man,
To be five ells tall lacking only a span.
To Antimenides, Poem by Alcaeus

Later mural of the abduction of Persephone by Hades

Also around this approximate date the Eleusinian Mysteries began to be formally brought into Athenian life. These were an ancient set of rituals involving processions to nearby Eleusis. There those who were to be initiated into the secrets would fast and be shown secrets that would supposedly change their lives. In exchange they would be sworn to secrecy about what exactly the rituals involved. To this day we are not sure exactly what was done, said or shown at these mysteries. But we have a fair idea, mostly because later Christian writers had no such scruples about revealing the secrets. The rites were connected to Demeter and Persephone, goddesses who were associated with both the harvest and the underworld. There were dances and libations to the dead and possibly hallucinogenic drugs involved. These rites predated this period, but only seem to have been formalised in this era. They would continue until 392AD when the Arian Christian Goths destroyed the sanctuary. But the secrecy that was enjoined on the initiates means that the full details of the Mysteries will always remain a mystery.

It is possibly around this time that the Terrace of Lions on the sacred island of Delos was made. These were marble lions that may have been set up in imitation of Egyptian terraces. The island of Delos was said to be the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis.

Not much can be said about the next three years 599, 598 and 597 for either the Greeks or Romans. In the year 596 the Olympic Games were held. Chrysamaxos of Sparta won the main race, the stadion. Polymestor of Miletus won the boys’ stadion race while Hetoimokles of Sparta won the wrestling competition again, making this his second Olympic crown.

Castalian Spring, sacred spring in Delphi,
where pilgrims would wash before
consulting the oracle

Around this time the First Sacred War broke out between the port city of Cirrha (sometimes spelled Kirrha) near the shrine of Delphi and an alliance of Greeks sometimes referred to as the Amphictyonic League. This league was a loose religious association of Greek city-states. It seems that Cirrha, and possibly its sister-city Crissa, had been levying a tax on pilgrims seeking guidance from the oracle. The war was led by the tyrant Cleisthenes (or Kleisthenes) of Sicyon. Sicyon was a city on the north of the Peloponnese and had a long lasting tyranny. Cleisthenes was a particularly energetic tyrant and waged war on the city of Argos as well at some point during his tyranny. The navy of Sicyon blockaded the port and the city was placed under siege. However the amateur nature of Greek warfare was not suited to sieges so the city was able to hold out against the League for years.

It should be noted that the Greek city-states were involved in almost continuous low-level warfare with each other and that at any given point there might be about twenty small wars/disputes being fought among the many cities. Around this time Athens and Megara were fighting over the small island of Salamis. Considering that Salamis is visible from the Acropolis of Athens it shows just how small the hinterlands of these states were. The Athenians seem to have had success in the war, led by a general famed for his wisdom known as Solon. However the dispute was eventually sent to arbitration to Sparta, who ruled that Salamis should be Athenian. Athens was also involved in the First Sacred War with their troops probably being led by Alcmaeon ,with Solon possibly acting as an aide. Plutarch in fact reports that Solon had persuaded the League to attack Cirrha but this is not certain.

Roman era bust of Solon

Notwithstanding all this, the Megarians persisted in their opposition, and both sides inflicted and suffered many injuries in the war, so that finally they made the Lacedaemonians arbiters and judges of the strife. Accordingly, most writers say that the fame of Homer favoured the contention of Solon; for after himself inserting a verse into the Catalogue of Ships, he read the passage at the trial thus:— 
Ajax from Salamis brought twelve ships,
And bringing, stationed them near the Athenian hosts.
Plutarch, Life of Solon 10, written circa 110AD

Around the year 594 Solon was the Archon for Athens. He had had success in the war against Megara and Athens was in danger of falling into severe turmoil. The farmland of Attica was not rich and was best for the growing of olives rather than grain. Because olives take a long time to mature many poor farmers were forced to switch to olive cultivation and to take out large loans from aristocrats in the hope of a favourable harvest in the future. If they were unlucky they would find themselves reduced to slavery. The common people were terrified of the possibility of being reduced to a status similar to that of the helots in Laconia. The aristocrats feared the unbridled wrath of the poor. The laws laid down by Draco in 621 do not seem to have helped the problem. This was made worse by the fact that some clans wanted to keep power in their own families and there was regional distrust between the different parts of Attica.

Solon was asked to write new laws for the city. He was a noble, but one who had the trust of the people. The law code was quite a large one for the time, but the main point was that the debts were all cancelled and any Athenian who had been enslaved by the nobles would be set free. This was seen as a liberation of the people and Solon was careful to ensure that he also cancelled the substantial amounts of money he was owed by his friends, so that none could accuse him of profiting (although his friends certainly did profit).

Modern statue of Solon showing him as lawmaker

To compensate the nobles, new laws were made forbidding the export of any foodstuff except olives and olive oil. In practice this would have favoured the nobles who had large estates and could export olives. Solon also split the people up into four classes based on how much they could produce. The wealthiest class could run for offices and be generals. The next class were expected to be the cavalry force for the city, as they could afford horses. The next class were expected to be the hoplite infantry, as they could afford armour. Finally the mass of the people, who owned only a little property were expected to serve as light infantry or in any naval combat.

Soon, however, they perceived the advantages of his measure, ceased from their private fault-finding, and offered a public sacrifice, which they called Seisactheia, or Disburdenment. They also appointed Solon to reform the constitution and make new laws, laying no restrictions whatever upon him, but putting everything into his hands, magistracies, assemblies, courts-of-law, and councils. He was to fix the property qualification for each of these, their numbers, and their times of meeting, abrogating and maintaining existing institutions at his pleasure
Plutarch, Life of Solon 16, written circa 100AD

Relief of Solon in the Capitol Building in
Washington DC, commemorating him
as a lawmaker

The reforms of Solon seem to have eased the tension in the city and the Athenians swore to keep his laws untouched for ten years. While Solon did not create a democracy, the rise of the fourth class, as the navy became more important, paved the way for later Athenian democracy. Having become a byword for wisdom, Solon supposedly left Athens for ten years to travel the Mediterranean seeking wisdom. He is said to have visited Egypt and Lydia, however the dates do not quite match. He is supposed to have spoken with Croesus of Lydia, but Croesus did not come to the throne of Lydia until around 560. The dates are unclear for the Lydian kings, but if Solon did in fact meet Croesus it probably happened at a much later date. Even Plutarch notes that some in antiquity thought this meeting never occurred.

In the year 594 Solon supposedly began his travels, voluntarily leaving behind the city of Athens that he had just reformed, to prevent the Athenians from pressuring him into the changing the laws he had written. Plato later writes that it was on these journeys that Solon came to the temple of Neith in Egypt where he heard the tale of the lost city of Atlantis. This is probably not true, but it is a beautiful tale.

“In the Delta of Egypt,” said Critias, “where, at its head, the stream of the Nile parts in two, there is a certain district called the Saitic. The chief city in this district is Sais—the home of King Amasis,—the founder of which, they say, is a goddess whose Egyptian name is Neith, and in Greek, as they assert, Athena. These people profess to be great lovers of Athens and in a measure akin to our people here. And Solon said that when he travelled there he was held in great esteem amongst them; moreover, when he was questioning such of their priests as were most versed in ancient lore about their early history, he discovered that neither he himself nor any other Greek knew anything at all, one might say, about such matters.
Plato, Timaeus 21-22, written circa 360BC

Later red-figure vase showing the contemporary poets
Alcaeus and Sappho

On the island of Lesbos, in the city of Mitylene, the tyrant Myrsilus reigned. There seems to have been an attempt by the nobles to murder the tyrant. To do this they enlisted the help of the wise man Pittacus, who had helped overthrow the previous tyrant Melanchron, probably around 609. However Pittacus betrayed the plot and a large number of the aristocrats were exiled, including the poet Alcaeus and possibly also the poet Sappho and her family. This made Alcaeus a fervent enemy of Pittacus who he condemned in his poetry, as he bided his time and waited for his revenge. This event may have happened in the year 600 and I have mentioned it there as well.

At every drinking-bout does he carouse,
And silly triflers feasting fill his house.
Well, let him boast in his exultant pride,
That he from Atreus' lineage won his bride.
As he devoured the state with Myrsilus,
So let him now, until success to us
By Ares be restored, and we again
Relax our wrath and soul-consuming pain,
And our intestine strife, stirred up amongst us
By some Olympian god: to Pittacus
He gave the glory he to see did lust,
But on our people mournful ruin thrust.
Alcaeus, Pittacus in power

In the year 592 the Olympic Games were held. Eurycles from Sparta won the stadion race. Alcmaeon of Athens, one of their most powerful generals and leader of the Alcmaeonid clan, entered a chariot team in the chariot race and won the prize. Hetoimokles of Sparta won the wrestling again, for the third time in a row. While weightlifting was not an Olympic sport, the athletes of Greece would attend the Olympic Games and it may have been at this Games that Bybon, a weightlifter, is said to have lifted a block of sandstone weighing 143.5kg above his head with one hand. The stone was inscribed with the achievement and was rediscovered in modern times in Olympia where it is now on display.

Roman era bust of Pittacus

In 591 the metalworker Glaucus of Chios flourished, who was supposed by the ancient Greeks to have made contributions to the craft of welding. Around the year 591 or 590 the tyrant Myrsilus of Mytilene probably died. Pittacus of Mytilene, one of the Seven Sages of Greece, was made tyrant in his stead and Pittacus allowed the exiled nobility to return to the island of Lesbos, which was generous, considering that Alcaeus of Mytilene, one of the exiles, had been slandering him in his poetry.

Around the year 590 King Eurycratides of Sparta died and was succeeded by Leon. Sparta had two kings from two different lines, the Eurypontid and the Agiad. Eurycratides and Leon were of the Agiad line.

Supposedly around this time, Alcmaeon of Athens, an Olympic victor and general, was banished from the city. This was because his father Megacles had instigated the summary execution of the rebels after the Cylonian conspiracy. In 632 the starving rebels had been lured from their sanctuary under promises of peace and then executed. This was a breach of religious piety and the family of Megacles were said to be under a curse. Alcmaeon left the city and went to Lydia where supposedly he was given a great deal of wealth by Croesus. Again the timelines do not add up here, as Croesus was probably not king for another thirty years, but the dates at this time are rather imprecise.

After Alcmaeon was banished the Athenians supposedly called in the Cretan seer Epimenides to help them to purify the city with rites and sacrifices. Epimenides was a strange character who is closer to myth than reality. Supposedly he had lived for nearly three hundred years when he finally died and he had slept for fifty-seven of these in a cave in Crete, sacred to Zeus, before waking up as a prophet. Again there are chronological issues with Epimenedes' visit to Athens, as this is said to have been while Solon was in Athens, however, Solon was probably abroad at the time. Epimenides is closer to Arion, more of a creature of myth than history, and any story about him should be taken very cautiously. What is likely is that he had some connection with the pre-Greek religions of Crete and the half-remembered tales of this religion became associated with him.

Later bust of Bias of Priene

Some fragments of his writing have come down to us and he is actually quoted twice in the New Testament. One of the quotes is also a logical paradox. He writes of the “Cretans, always liars”. However Epimenides was himself from Crete, so was he lying when he wrote this? The poet himself was speaking of something quite different, referring to the Cretan belief that Zeus was a mortal man and believing that this was a lie. However the logicians of later ages turned this fragment of poetry into a logical puzzle. And thus, through these quotes, the faint memory of this semi-legendary sage lives on.

They fashioned a tomb for you, holy and high one,
Cretans, always liars, evil beasts, idle bellies.
But you are not dead: you live and abide forever,
For in you we live and move and have our being.
Epimenides Cretica, quoted by Isho’dad of Merv in the commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, written circa 850AD

Around the year 590 Bias of Priene was a statesman and advocate in the law courts of Ionia. He was supposedly the greatest orator of his age and apparently used this power to foster justice. He became known for his wisdom and was accounted one of the Seven Sages of Greece.

Ruins of the Temple of Hera in Olympia

Also around the year 590 the Temple of Hera in Olympia was built, making it one of the oldest temples in Greece. It was later reconstructed however, as much of the original building had been made of wood. It is not the oldest temple in Greece, with that honour probably going to the now lost Temple of Isthmia in Corinth, but it is certainly an important instance of early Greek architecture.

In the year 589 nothing much happens that I can tell, save that the siege of Cirrha, in the First Sacred War, was probably still ongoing. In the year 588 the Olympics were held, with Glaukias of Croton winning the stadion race. Pythagoras of Samos won the boxing event. Supposedly he was ridiculed for looking too effeminate and was not allowed to enter the boy’s boxing event, but appealed to the judges to let him compete in the men’s event, which he then won. Considering that there were no weight categories in ancient boxing, Pythagoras of Samos must have been brave indeed if the story is true. Hetoimokles of Sparta won the wrestling competition for the fourth time. It would be his last victory in the Olympics.

In the year 587 I do not know of any events that happened. In the year 586 I cannot say if anything happened with the exception being that the Pythian Games may have started then, but I will speak of these later.

Hellebore. Or what I think
is hellebore. I am not a botanist

In 585 the First Sacred War probably ended. We cannot be sure of the dates, but we can be sure that the city of Cirrha was depopulated and that the plain of Cirrha became an empty plain, sacred to the god Apollo where no cultivation was permitted. The siege may have ended through starvation but some ancient sources suggest that the water supply of Cirrha was poisoned. This may well be a later legend. The plant hellebore, which can be both a purgative and a poison, grows freely nearby. Some suggest that it was Solon who suggested this ruse, others that it was an Asclepiad, a type of priest of the god of healing, called Nebros who gave the idea to poison the water pipe that supplied the city. I’m sceptical, as the amount of poison needed would have made it very obvious that the water was tampered with. But if the story is true, then this is the oldest known instance of biological warfare in history.

In Corinth the tyrant Periander died. As a tyrant in an age of tyrants he had garnered a reputation for wisdom and had left his city great. He was succeeded by his nephew Psammetichus (an Egyptian name) who ruled for a few years before the city reverted to an oligarchy. Periander had built the Diolkos, a pathway for ships, allowing ships to be transferred from one side of the Isthmus to the other. Small sections of it still remain to this day and it was a very clever solution to a major problem for a trading and naval power. Periander also had a reputation for wisdom and was accounted as one of the Seven Sages of Greece, but some lists of the Seven Sages exclude him, as later ages viewed tyrants poorly.

Map from NASA showing the path of the eclipse
seen by Thales. Source

The year 585 is particularly noteworthy though, not just for the end of wars or the death of tyrants, but as the birth of science in the Western world. In the year 585 a total eclipse of the sun was observed in Lydia. This eclipse caused the Lydian and Median empires to make peace with each other, but had in fact been predicted by Thales. Thales was a Greek thinker from Miletus and is the first known Greek philosopher.

Philosopher at this point meant merely lover of knowledge and Thales studied the stars and the earth. It is impossible for one person to accumulate enough data in a lifetime to predict an eclipse, so Thales must have been familiar with the works of previous civilisations, probably the Babylonians or Egyptians. This is the first mention that we have of Greek astronomy, but Greek astronomy at this point was quite crude compared to that of the ancient civilisations around them. Even the Babylonians were not entirely able to predict eclipses. They knew when they might occur but because not all eclipses are visible all over the world, they often saw no confirmation. So Thales probably used the same data that they did, guessed that this time it would be visible, and got lucky.

And this change of the day Thales the Milesian had foretold to the Ionians laying down as a limit this very year in which the change took place.
Herodotus, Histories, 1:74, written circa 440BC

Thales had a great reputation for wisdom and was another of the Seven Sages of Greece. He was a citizen of Miletus, but he had seen the weakness of the Ionian cities compared to the might of the Lydians and urged the Ionians to unite into a single country. History might have been different if they had, but the cities were too independent.

Drawing of a later bust of Thales

Thales also is possibly the first named mathematician. There were mathematicians before him, in Egypt, Babylonia, China and possibly India, but none to my knowledge whose names are preserved. Thales made some observations about the height of pyramids and formulated axioms about right angles. It was not particularly advanced mathematics, but it was definitely mathematics.

Hence, as the certain knowledge of numbers received its origin among the Phoenicians, on account of merchandise and commerce, so geometry was found out among the Egyptians from the distribution of land. When Thales, therefore, first went into Egypt, he transferred this knowledge from thence into Greece: and he invented many things himself, and communicated to his successors the principles of many. Some of which were, indeed, more universal, but others extended to sensibles.
Proclus, Commentary on Euclid Chapter IV, written circa 450AD

But what made Thales truly special was that he was the first person we know of to try and explain the world using purely natural means, without relying on divine intervention to explain away difficulties. He also probed the ultimate nature of reality, believing that at the root of being, all things are water. This was of course incorrect but his reasoning shows the beginning of the speculations that lead to science. He seems to have thought that water can take different forms, such as ice and steam, and that water was necessary for life, therefore if one substance must lie at the root of reality, it must be water.

Thales, the founder of this school of philosophy, says the permanent entity is water (which is why he also propounded that the earth floats on water). Presumably he derived this assumption from seeing that the nutriment of everything is moist, and that heat itself is generated from moisture and depends upon it for its existence (and that from which a thing is generated is always its first principle). He derived his assumption, then, from this; and also from the fact that the seeds of everything have a moist nature, whereas water is the first principle of the nature of moist things.
Aristotle, Metaphysics 1.983b, written circa 340BC

He wasn’t entirely free of metaphysical speculation. He seems to have thought that magnets were connected to gods somehow. But, in the west at least, Thales has good claim to be the first philosopher, the first mathematician and the first scientist, as well as an engineer and diplomat. He was a lover of knowledge indeed.

A cup showing the people of Cyrene loading silphium onto
a ship. The seated figure to the left is Arcesilaus,
although this may be Arcesilaus II 

In 584 the Olympic Games were held. Lykinos of Croton won the stadion race that year. In 583 King Arcesilaus I of Cyrene, in North Africa, died. He was succeeded by his son Battus II, because the kings of Cyrene were always unoriginally called either Battus or Arcesilaus in alternating order. Around this time a plant was discovered that had medicinal, possibly aphrodisiacal and possibly prophylactic properties. It was hailed as a wonder and exported by the people of Cyrene, whose economy came to depend on it. However, it could not be grown elsewhere and all attempts to cultivate it failed. So it had to be harvested with care. Eventually the ancient world would over-harvest the plant and silphium was extinct by the time of Nero, but for now, the wealth of the Greek North African colony depended on the wonder plant silphium.

Stadium at Delphi where the Pythian Games were held.
The stone seats are later additions from the Roman era

In the year 582, in celebration of the victory over Cirrha in the First Sacred War, the Pythian Games were organised. It is possible that these were held in 586 but it depends on when the Siege of Cirrha ended. These games were supposedly the restoration of a more ancient set of games but this is probably a myth. The games were held in Delphi, near the sanctuary of the god Apollo to whom they were dedicated. They were held every four years, in the middle period between the more prestigious Olympic Games and included many of the same sporting events as the Olympics. These games did attract visitors from all over Greece however, and the Pythian Games gave visitors an opportunity to conduct business and to consult the Oracle. It must have brought great prosperity and soon after, other games would be organised around Greece. The Pythian Games never became as prestigious as the Olympic Games however and not as many victors are recorded. Sakadas of Argos was a winner in the first Pythian Games, winning a competition for music.

In the year 581 the Isthmian Games were organised. These were similar to the Pythian Games, but held every two years (in the first and third years of the Olympiad). The winners would be crowned with celery. Like the Pythian Games, these were given suitably heroic origins, supposedly dating back to the time of Theseus, but were most likely organised when the Corinthians saw the success of the Pythian Games.

Vase painted by the Cavalcade Painter

In 580, the city of Agrigentum was founded on the southern coast of Sicily by Greek settlers from Gela. The city was originally named Akragas, but it was later known as Agrigentum. It would rapidly expand to become one of the largest and most powerful cities in Sicily. Around this time two other cities in Sicily, Segesta and Selinus, were at war with each other. These two cities were at the eastern end of the island and the rise of the Greek cities on the south and eastern parts of Sicily must have been a concern to the Carthaginians, whose city lay across the sea in Africa.The Carthaginians are said to have interfered in the war, siding with Segesta against Selinus. Some of the defeated Dorians who had been fighting on the side of Selinus occupied Lipera, which became a hub of piracy in the region.

In this year of 580 the Olympic Games were held and Epitelidas of Sparta won the stadion race. This event almost certainly happened in 580, however many of the other things that will be mentioned happened in or around this time, rather than directly in this year.

In the arts, a number of vase painters were active at this time. In many cases their names have not come down to us but we know them by their work and refer to them this way. The Cavalcade Painter flourished around this time, and probably was based in Corinth, producing black-figure vases. Also active at this time was the Gorgon Painter, another painter of black-figure vases whose work included a number of representations of Gorgons, including the vase showing the myth of Perseus and the Gorgon. The Pholoe Painter also flourished at this time, again as part of the Corinthian school of black-figure vase painting. In some ways these vase paintings are still somewhat crude compared to later Greek art but they are still impressive. The kouroi statues known as Cleobis and Biton at Delphi were made around this time. These are named after two brothers in Argos who had died pious deaths and were honoured by the Greeks, however this is a modern appellation and it is more likely that these represented the Dioscuri, the Hero-Twins of the Greeks.

Pediment of the Temple of Artemis in Corcyra

Supposedly around this time Susarion brought Megarian Comedy to Attica. This Comedy was slapstick and buffoonery that would be performed for the festivals of Dionysus in Icaria (a region of Attica) and would later inform the development of the comedy performed at the festivals of Dionysus in Athens itself. However almost nothing survives of Susarion’s work and none of his comedies may have been written down. They may instead have been nearly extempore jests performed by a chorus, and almost certainly did not involve actors.

Also around this time, the earliest aqueducts bringing water into Athens were probably constructed. We know that other cities at this time had pipes bringing in water into the city, as it was supposedly by poisoning these that city of Cirrha was taken by siege some years earlier. We should not imagine Roman aqueducts here however, but rather a series of pipes that brought water in from local sources.

Gorgon from the pediment of the
Temple of Artemis in Corcyra

In Corcyra, the present-day island of Corfu, what was probably the first Doric temple made entirely of stone was constructed. It was dedicated to Artemis and had pediments decorated with elaborate sculptures of a gorgon and other scenes from mythology. Little remains of it but the pediments have been largely reconstructed and can be viewed in museums.

In a strange twist of history the excavations were partially overseen by none other than Kaiser Wilhelm II who had become somewhat obsessed with the site and the artworks found. Compared to later Greek temples this seems very strange but the pediments do have a compelling beauty of their own.

Around the year 580 we see some of the first real exploration efforts from the Greeks. In 640 a Greek called Colaeus of Samos had been swept by accident through the Straits of Gibraltar and had reached the land of Tartessos in what is now southern Spain or Portugal, Thus Colaeus may be counted as the first explorer. But his mission was more of a trading one and seems to have been mainly accidental.

Around 580 Euthymenes, of the newly founded city Massalia, set out on a voyage through the Pillars of Heracles, as the Straits of Gibraltar were then known, and sailed southwards along the western coast of Africa until he reached a large river that he thought looked like the Nile. He reported that the seawater was pushed out by the great flows of freshwater from the river. His report that the Nile was to be seen in West Africa was confusing, and speaks to the lack of geographical knowledge of the time, but he may have been describing the Senegal River instead. His voyage is rather tame compared to the supposed exploits of the Phoenicians, but is worth remembering nonetheless.

Modern bust of Euthymenes in Marseilles

"Euthymenes of Massilia says by way of testimony, 'I have navigated' says he, 'the Atlantic sea. Now, the Nile flows, greatly, as long as the Etesian Winds endure; for the sea is constantly thrown back by the constant winds; as soon as they have abated and the sea becomes calm, the Nile descends with less force. For the rest, the seawater is fresh to the taste and has wildlife similar to that of the Nile”
Seneca the Younger quoting Euthymenes in Naturales quaestiones IV.2.22, written circa 40AD

In poetry, the poet Cleobulina flourished around this time. She was a daughter of Cleobulus, who was a famed poet and sage in his own right. She came from Lindos in Rhodes and was active in Ionia. Some traditions associate her with Thales, with Diogenes Laertius asserting that she was his mother, but these traditions are much later. She primarily wrote riddles, as did her father, and three of these survive. It is interesting to see that in some ways the Archaic Period of Greece saw a higher percentage of women writers than the Classical Period, though this may be due to the fragmentary nature of the sources.

I saw one man welding bronze to another man with fire, so tightly as to make them common blood.
Athenaeus, Doctors at Dinner, written circa 180AD, quoting Cleobulina’s riddle. The answer is “applying a cupping glass”

Later Roman bust of Sappho

Cleobulina was remembered in the ancient world but her contemporary Sappho was famous. Sappho lived in the city of Mitylene on the island of Lesbos in the north-eastern Aegean. She was possibly the greatest of the Lyric poets but also wrote elegiac and iambic poetry. She was a contemporary with Alcaeus and some have said that they were lovers. But this is probably false and an example of later biographers pairing up anyone or connecting anyone who was vaguely contemporary. Alcaeus and Sappho would certainly have known each other though, as they were both from noble families on Lesbos and may have both been banished after the assassination attempt on Myrsilus.

Sappho seems to have been part of a community or association of women, probably related to poetry and music. Some refer to this as a school, but this is an anachronism. The nobility of Lesbos formed communal fraternal groups aimed at fostering brotherhood and loyalty among the wealthy and Sappho’s group was probably the female equivalent of such a group.

Some say that the most beautiful sight upon earth’s dark soil is a company of soldiers on horse. Others think that this honour belongs to a line of soldiers on foot. And still others to a fleet of ships. Ah, but for me this honour belongs to whoever one loves. 
It’s easy to see why. Look! The most gorgeous woman on earth, Helen, abandoned her man, most excellent of all men! And made sails for Troy! 
Not a thought for her daughter nor her dear parents. 
That was Cypris’ fault! Aphrodite! It was this goddess who had led her so far astray. So suddenly. So easily. So gently. 
Ah! This reminds me of Anactoria who is very far away. How I’d much rather look upon her charming step, and upon the dazzling beauty of her face than upon all the glittering chariots of Lydia and all of her foot soldiers, clad in their weighty armour! 
Sappho, A company of Soldiers

1887 painting of Sappho
by Charles Mengin

As part of this Sappho formed strong bonds with the ladies in her group and wrote numerous poems alluding to the love she felt for these women. It should be noted that these are not explicitly sexual in nature, but almost certainly are sexual in intent. Thus Sappho was not only admired for the quality of her poetry but also eventually lent her name to female homosexuality. In English, the epithet Sapphic bears this meaning, but the most common word used stems from her island of origin; Lesbian.

And again when the moon casts her brilliance all over the earth, the stars soften the blaze of their beauty
Sappho, The stars around the moon

While there is no evidence of explicit disapproval of this, there are indications that the ancient world found female heterosexuality disturbing. So there were efforts made by later biographers to prove that she also loved men. There are the suppositions that because she and Alcaeus were contemporary that they were lovers. There are also cruder stories where Sappho falls passionately in love with an ugly boatman named Phaon and when he dies or rejects her, she hurls herself over the Leucadian cliffs to her death, in the hope that the leap would either cure her love or kill her. There is an even cruder tradition that holds that she was married to a man called Kerkylas of Andros (which translates in modern idiom as “Dick from the Isle of Man”). The name Kerkylas is extremely unusual and seems to have been invented as a slang for penis, so this is probably a joke story. There is a possibility that Sappho had a daughter Cleis, but this is disputed. Regardless of the fact that her probable homosexuality made the Greeks uncomfortable, we must remember that the Greeks did not think of sexuality as a matter of fixed orientation, as we do today, and thought of sexuality more in terms of individual acts. But this is a longer discussion for another time.

Cliffs near Leucadia
present-day island of Lefkada

Because if you forget, I’ll remind you of the good things we lived through together. 
Remember the many garlands of violets and roses I placed next to you and the many flower necklaces I weaved around your soft skin 
Sappho, Abandoned

In the year 579 Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, the quasi-usurper king of Rome, was slain by the sons of Ancus Marcius, a previous king. Lucius Tarquinius Priscus had begun work on making wooden stands in the valley between the Palatine and Aventine Hills in Rome, in what would later become the Circus Maximus. He had also begun work on the Cloaca Maxima, the main drain for Rome that still stands to this day. In this time it was probably an open sewer rather than the closed work that it is today. The temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill was probably begun around under his reign as well. It should be noted that many scholars feel that the dates of the early kings are inaccurate and that all of this work might in fact have been done sixty years later, but I will mention the traditional dates for now.

Model of an Etruscan period temple, built around 500BC
It would have closely resembled the Temple of Jupiter
on the Capitoline Hill in Rome

They appeared in the vestibule of the palace, each with his usual implement, and by pretending to have a violent and outrageous quarrel, they attracted the attention of all the royal guards. Then, as they both began to appeal to the king, and their clamour had penetrated within the palace, they were summoned before the king. At first they tried, by shouting each against the other, to see who could make the most noise, until, after being repressed by the lictor and ordered to speak in turn, they became quiet, and one of the two began to state his case. Whilst the king's attention was absorbed in listening to him, the other swung aloft his axe and drove it into the king's head, and leaving the weapon in the wound both dashed out of the palace.
Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, 1.40, written circa 15BC

Not much can be said for the years 578 and 577. In 576 Alcetas I of Macedonia probably began his rule. Macedonia was a kingdom to the north of Greece. It saw itself as Greek but the Greeks further south sometimes treated them as barbarians. Macedonia was certainly linked to Greek culture and would later become extremely important in Greek history, but it always stood slightly apart, with its own identity. Needless to say the early dates for the kingdom, like nearly all the dates mentioned in this blog, should be treated with caution.

Vase by the Anagyrus Painter

We can be rather more certain about the Olympic Games of this year, with Eratosthenes of Croton, a city in Sicily, winning the stadion race. I always find it strange that there is in some ways more knowledge about ancient sport than about ancient kings in this period.

Treating the Spartan dates with similar caution, Agasicles, the Eurypontid king of Sparta probably began his rule around the year 585. The Greek city of Massalia in southern Gaul, which is now Marseilles in contemporary France, founded a colony named Emporion, meaning “Trading Place”, on the north-western coast of what is now Catalonia in Spain around this time. The Greek cities were still sending colonies to settle new lands, but the great age of colonisation seems to have nearly ended. There was now too much competition between the Greeks and the Phoenicians for new lands and trade and as cities became better at feeding their populations there was less need to send excess people to settle new lands.

The Anagyrus Painter flourished around this time. The Anagyrus Painter was probably based in Attica and painted in the black-figure style, similar to the Corinthian vase painters of the same time.

The Sounion Kouros in the National
 Archaeological Museum in Athens.
The legs have been almost entirely reconstructed

In art, over the previous decades, a new type of statue was being made in Greece. Previous Greek statuary was rather crude, but increased contacts with the other cultures in the Mediterranean seem to have inspired the Greeks to create statues that were the equal of the Egyptian statues. These statues were known as kouroi and were almost universally of nude men, clean-shaven with long hair. They all had the same pose, standing straight upright with one foot slightly forward so that the weight of the statue would have to be distributed. Each statue would have long hair and an enigmatic smile, similar to the Egyptian statues, that is known as the Archaic Smile, as all the statuary of the time seems to have this expression. There were female statues that were also made of a similar type, but almost always clothed rather than nude. These physical remains show that Greece had reached a high level of cultural expression and even if their civilisation had disappeared at this point, we would know and appreciate some of what they had achieved.

In Rome, according to the traditional dates, the king Servius Tullius came to power around this time. The dates are of course unclear here. Servius’ name designates that he came from humble origins, originally being a slave in the household of the previous king, before marrying the daughter of Tarquinius and Tanaquil, and showing great competency in everything he was entrusted with. Supposedly, when Tarquinius was assassinated, Servius and other members of the royal family hid the death from the people before eventually taking over power themselves and forcing the assassins to flee. It should of course be remembered that all of this information is taken from much later sources. At the time, Rome was a minor and insignificant city, which barely controlled more than the seven hills upon which it stood.

Wall of the Temple of Capitolin Jupiter
preserved in the Capitoline Museum

She bade them hope for the best; the king had been stunned by a sudden blow, but the weapon had not penetrated to any depth, he had already recovered consciousness, the blood had been washed off and the wound examined, all the symptoms were favourable, she was sure they would soon see him again, meantime it was his order that the people should recognise the authority of Servius Tullius, who would administer justice and discharge the other functions of royalty.
Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, 1.41, written circa 15BC

Thus the period that we are looking at draws to a close. The dates are problematic for this time of course. Apart from the eclipse of 585 nearly every other date that is mentioned is up for interpretation. But even if we cannot say with certainty exactly what year we can have growing confidence that these events did in fact happen, with the exception of the doings of semi-legendary characters such as Epimenides.

This period has the flourishing of vase painting, continued Olympic valour and the founding of games in emulation of the Olympics. We see wars between the Greek states, including possibly the first use of biological weapons in history, the rising importance of the Oracle of Delphi, the semi-legendary Seven Sages of Greece, continued expansion of colonies and the beginning of purposeful exploration. Poetry and song are represented by poets such as Sappho and Alcaeus. Statuary, engineering and architecture are becoming ever more impressive. And lastly and perhaps most importantly, we see the rise of Greek science, mathematics and philosophy in the person of Thales of Miletus.

Remains of the Diolkos on the Corinthian Isthmus
A causeway that allowed ships to be dragged across the Isthmus
instead of having to sail around the Peloponnese

Primary Sources:
Poems of Cleobulus
Herodotus’ Histories
Poems of Alcaeus
Plutarch’s Life of Solon
Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita
Poems of Sappho

Related Blog Posts:
Greece from 625-600BC
600-575BC in the Near East
575-550BC in Greece