Charondas

Charondas ( Greek Χαρώνδας Charṓndas ) was an ancient Greek philosopher and lawgiver . He lived in the 7th or 6th century BC. Chr.

Charondas came from Katane, today's Catania in Sicily. He passed laws to his hometown and other city-states in the Greek-populated southern Italy . Most of the details are unknown and cannot be reconstructed.

As with other Greek legislators, posterity created legends. It has been claimed that Charondas made any change in the law difficult by stipulating that whoever proposed a law should appear with a rope around his neck and be strangled immediately if his proposal was not successful. According to a legend handed down by Diodorus , Charondas, returning from a trip, entered the popular assembly armed. When his attention was drawn to the fact that he was breaking his own law by forbidding armed appearances, he is said to have shouted: No, by Zeus, I confirm it! whereupon he stuck the knife in his chest.

literature

Bruno Centrone: Charondas de Catane. In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques. Volume 2, CNRS Éditions, Paris 1994, ISBN 2-271-05195-9 , pp. 302-303
Karl-Joachim Hölkeskamp : Charondas. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 2, Metzler, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-476-01472-X , Sp. 1109 f.

personal data
SURNAME	Charondas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Philosopher and legislator
DATE OF BIRTH	8th century BC BC or 7th century BC Chr.
PLACE OF BIRTH	Katans
DATE OF DEATH	7th century BC BC or 6th century BC Chr.