PisistratusPeisistratus

The last tyrant of Greece; (?-527 BCE).

Pisistratus was the last tyrant of Athens to hold absolute power; the son of Hippokrates (Hippocrates) and a descendant of Neleus; he was named after one of the sons of the Greek hero, Nestor; his rule was tempered by the constitution instituted by Solon but he was considered to be a beneficent ruler and, despite his sometimes outrageous public posturing, he was instrumental in expanding the artistic and commercial life of the Athenians.

During the war with Megara (570 BCE) he achieved acclaim by capturing the port of Nisaea; in 560 BCE he and his supporters forcefully occupied the Akropolis (Acropolis) and he proclaimed himself tyrant; he was ousted from Athens in 559 after only one year.

The government in Athens suffered in his absence because of the infighting between the different political factions; one of the faction leaders offered Pisistratus his daughter in marriage if he would resume his leadership; this was, of course, not the majority opinion so Pisistratus devised a clever and, as the historian Herodotus puts it, a simple-minded way to make his return; in 550 BCE Pisistratus hired a stately woman named Phya to dress as Athene (Athena) and ride beside him on a chariot into Athens; heralds proceeded the chariot and proclaimed that Pisistratus was returning with the blessing of Athene; whether the citizens were fooled by this stunt is a matter of debate but his showmanship and audacity earned him the right to rule again.

After another year he was again exiled and did not return to Athens for another ten years; his next entrance into the city was not as flamboyant as his previous escapade but he managed to retain the rule of Athens from 539 until his death in 527 BCE.

During his rule he opened the Euxine (Black Sea) for Athenian traders, gave pensions to artists such as Simonides, instituted the Great Dionysia and gave new splendor to the Panathenaic Festival; his public works and beautification of Athens had a practical and altruistic effect on the citizens and elevated Athens to a new level of respect among all the people of Greece; after his death in 527 BCE, the rule of Athens fell into the indulgent and incompetent hands of his two sons, Hippias and Hipparkhus (Hipparchus).

This web site is entitled From The Iliad to the Fall of the Last Tyrant because the Immortals of Homer held absolute power over the Greeks until the death of Pisistratus; after Pisistratus, the government and people of Greece became more “liberal” and thus more disrespectful of the Immortals; the subsequent decline of their religion led to the eventual loss of dominance by Greece in the ancient world and opened the door for the rise of Rome, the subjugation of the Greek people and the belittlement of their institutions which had thrived for over eight hundred years.

• Histories, book 1, chapters 59-64; book 5, chapter 65