Solon

Solon, one of the “Seven Sages” (Martin 1993) was appointed archon and mediator in 594 bce and charged with resolving a difficult social, economic, and political crisis that had brought Athens to the brink of civil war. His function as a “reconciler” and his legislation are discussed in this volume, chs. 21 and 8, respectively. I shall focus here briefly on the political ideas that are formulated in his poetry (West [W] 1992; tr. West 1994). Here, for the first time in history, we find expressions of explicit political thought, not woven into epic narrative or genealogical schemes but directly addressed to the citizens of Athens.

In an important poem containing programmatic statements (4 W2; Vlastos 1946; Jaeger 1966: 75-99; Stahl 1992), Solon says: “My mind orders me to teach this to the Athenians” (30). The statesman and legislator is also a poet and educator of his people, and he is one of them. “Our city will never fall” by divine will! On the contrary: Athena stands ready to protect her city (1-4). The first lesson, emphasized already in the Odyssey (1.22-43) and by Hesiod, thus is: the woes that trouble the community are caused not by the gods but by the citizens themselves, most of all by the greedy and abusive leaders, the elite (5-13), who ignore Dike’s ordinances. But, silent and knowing, she “comes in time with certainty (pantos) to exact punishment.” The result is “an inescapable wound for the entire polis” (enslavement by a tyrant, stasis, civil war, death of young men, enslavement of debtors; 14-25). The second lesson thus contradicts Hesiod (WD 259-60): Dike does not need to appeal to her father Zeus to uphold justice and punish evildoers. She stands on her own, is almost an abstract principle, she knows and she will act, with certainty.

Violations of justice thus have inevitable consequences, comparable to natural phenomena: as snow or hail come from a dark cloudbank and thunder follows upon lightning, so a polis whose citizens have elevated one man too high will be enslaved by a tyrant (9 W2; cf. 11; 13.8, 17-32). Whether in the realm of justice, social relations, or politics, the consequences of specific actions can be expected - and thus predicted - with a degree of certainty that resembles the cause and effect relationships in the realm of nature: political laws are like natural laws.

Where Hesiod had to trust in Zeus’ wisdom and power (WD 273), Solon knows. Where Hesiod had to refer to mythical examples (WD 240-1), Solon observes what is happening in many poleis around him and bases his political conclusion on “empirical data.” Where Hesiod emphasized physical suffering and prospering of polis, people, and nature (WD 225-47), Solon thinks politically. Moreover, “the public ill comes home to every man” and finds him “for sure” (pantos) wherever he hides (Sol. 4.26-9). With certainty, therefore, the entire community (17) and every citizen will suffer. Lesson three: Hesiod was wrong. It will not do to avoid the agora (WD 27-31), hide in one’s farm, and rely on neighbors (342-51). On the contrary: it is crucial to be alert and involved and to assume communal responsibility.

Solon thus established a pattern of political causes and consequences that enabled him to understand political processes, predict the outcome of certain actions or patterns of behavior, and take appropriate action. He too, had to appeal to the nobles to change their ways. But, based on logical arguments, not just belief in divine retribution, this appeal was much more compelling: the elite too was threatened by its own transgression; elite abuse of power, followed by civil strife and tyranny, was bound to hurt the elite as much as the others. Unlike Hesiod, as an appointed lawgiver Solon was in a position to draw the consequences and realize necessary reform. Whether or not these reforms were entirely successful, they were, for the first time as far as we know, based on more than religious and moral concerns: they were founded on political experience and calculation and something approaching a political theory.16