Ariston (Sparta)

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Ariston ( Greek  Ἀρίστων ) was in the second half of the 6th century BC. A king of Sparta from the house of the Eurypontids , who lived until about 515 BC. Ruled.

Ariston was the son of Agasicles and ruled at the time of the Lydian king Kroisos . His counterpart in the Spartan dual kingship was the Agiade Anaxandridas . Together they succeeded after taking office around 550 BC. To win the decades-long war against Tegea that was waged under their fathers, and thus to extend the Spartan hegemony to Arcadia . According to Herodotus , the prerequisite for this victory was an at first incomprehensible saying of the oracle of Delphi , because the Spartans were supposed to transfer the bones of Orestes to Sparta without knowing where they could find them. Even a request did not provide a clearer answer. Eventually a certain Lichas, an Agathoergos of the Spartans, managed to find the bones and Tegea was defeated.

Two of Ariston's first marriages remained childless. His third wife was previously the wife of Agetos, son of Alkidas and friend of Ariston. In her youth she was far from being pleasant to look at, but Helena made her very beautiful. Ariston fell in love with her and suggested to his friend Agetos that he could have whatever he wanted from him, if in return he would also give him the freedom to choose freely from what he owned. Both agreed to proceed in this way and affirmed this by an oath. Since Ariston was still married at this time, Agetos had no suspicions and chose from Ariston's treasures in the expectation that Ariston would do the same. When Ariston chose the wife of Agetos, the latter initially refused to accept this, but had to accept it because of the oath he had taken. Seven months after the wedding, Ariston's third wife gave birth to a son, but Ariston initially refused to recognize paternity because of the short pregnancy. As the son grew up, he changed his posture and named his son Damaratos , which means "answer to the prayers of the people", since the Spartans had prayed for a son of Ariston before he was born. The mother of Damaratus later told her son, however, that he was the son of the local hero Astrabakos , who had approached her in the form of Ariston.

Plutarch passed on some sayings of Ariston in his sayings of the Spartans . So he names Ariston as one of the authors of the phrase that it is better to make friends of your enemies than to do good to your friends, but bad to your enemies - a saying that, according to Plutarch, is usually put in Socrates' mouth, in this form, however, is not handed down literally for Socrates. Also Cleobulus was considered author of the award. When asked how many Spartans there were, Ariston is said to have replied that there were enough to keep the enemies away.

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literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Herodotus 1.67 f.
  2. ↑ Herodotus 6: 61-63; Pausanias 3,7.7 f.
  3. ↑ Herodotus 6,69.
  4. ↑ Compare Plato , Politeia 335B ff .; Criton 49A ff .; Gorgias 469A-B; 475B-D.
  5. ↑ Diogenes Laertios 1.91 .
  6. ↑ Plutarch, Apophthegmata laconica 218A.
predecessor Office successor
Agasicles King of Sparta
around 550-515 BC Chr. 		Damaratos
personal data
SURNAME Ariston
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ἀρίστων (Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION spartan king
DATE OF BIRTH 7th century BC BC or 6th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 6th century BC Chr.