ABSTRACT
Despite the fact that colonization and tyranny were common phenomena in Greece in the eighth and seventh centuries, these were developments which largely passed Athens by in that period. When Kylon attempted to set up a tyranny at Athens with the support of his father-in-law Theagenes the tyrant of Megara, the attempt failed miserably (docs 2.1719). But it did have an important long-term political repercussion, the curse which lay upon the Alkmeonidai for their role in killing Kylon’s supporters. It is also possible that Drakon was appointed to codify the laws in 621/0 as a result of the Kylonian conspiracy, to prevent blood feuds that might have taken place as a consequence. Little is known of Drakon’s laws because they were superseded by those of Solon (doc. 3.15), except for the law on homicide, which remained in force and was in fact republished in the year 409/8 (doc. 3.3). There was a later tradition that Drakon’s laws were harsh (doc. 3.4), but such a tradition can be discounted, as the law on involuntary homicide seems humane; it may have simply arisen out of a feeling that any older set of laws was bound to be harsher than the present code. Drakon was not archon when he was law-giver, and in this sense differed from Solon, who carried out his reforms as archon. Drakon’s lawcode was not unique in the Greek world in the seventh century: at Dreros a law was passed c. 650 about the holding of office (doc. 10.23), and Zaleukos of Locri in southern Italy, who was known as the first law-giver, also belongs to this period.
