Kleon (Athens)
Kleon ( Greek Κλέων Kléōn ; † 422 BC at Amphipolis ) was an Athenian politician and military leader during the Peloponnesian War .
In the ancient sources of aristocratic provenance, its low origin is emphasized. His father was called Kleainetos. According to the author of the Athenaion Politeia , Kleon was the first to scream and curse in the speaker's platform and to "corrupt the people more than anyone else through his uncontrolled impulsiveness". The historian Thucydides described him as a war advocate, demagogue, and vulgar.
However, his father already enjoyed some reputation if a mention on a list of victories in the urban Dionysia should refer to him. Kleon had made some prosperity through a tannery and married into one of the most distinguished families in Athens. He had an extraordinary talent for speech which he used to get the Athenian people on his side. Kleon was a proponent of an aggressive policy towards Sparta and thus an opponent of Nicias , who advocated an understanding. As Spartan ambassadors in 425 BC BC because of the delicate situation of the Spartans on the island of Sphakteria in Athens for a peace treaty, they were, according to Thucydides, abruptly rejected by Kleon and therefore had to return home without having achieved anything.
Although without military experience, he then achieved success as a military leader in the Battle of Sphakteria in 425 BC. BC, which increased its reputation. Kleon drove in 422 BC. As a general with 30 ships from Athens to Thrace, in order to recapture the cities that had fallen away from Athens. His death and that of the Spartan Brasidas at the Battle of Amphipolis paved the way for the Peace of Nicias in 421 BC. Chr.
Thucydides and Aristophanes shaped a negative view of Kleon, but personal motives played a role. Thucydides' account of the work of Kleon is probably due to the fact that he owed his 20-year banishment from Athens at least in part to him. As one of the first Athenian politicians, Kleon did not come from the old respected families and was therefore entirely dependent on the persuasiveness of his political oratory. In recent research, it is therefore considered in a more differentiated manner.
literature
For further literature see Peloponnesian War .
- Arthur Geoffrey Woodhead : Thucydides' Portrait of Cleon. In: Mnemosyne Fourth Series 13, 1960, pp. 289-317.
- Félix Bourriot: La faille et le Milieu social de Cléon. In: Historia 31, 1982, pp. 404-435.
- Hermann Lind: The tanner Kleon in the 'knights' of Aristophanes. Studies on demagogue comedy . Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1990, ISBN 3-631-41877-9 .
- Winfried Schmitz : Kleon 1. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 6, Metzler, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-476-01476-2 , Sp. 582.
- Cleon. In: The Oxford Classical Dictionary . 4th edition, Oxford 2012, p. 332.
Web links
- Jona Lendering: Cleon . In: Livius.org (English)
Remarks
- ^ Thucydides, Peloponnesian War 3, 36.
- ^ Aristotle, Athenaion Politeia 28, 3.
- ↑ See Donald Kagan : The Peloponnesian War. Athens and Sparta in Savage Conflict 431-404 BC . HarperCollins, London 2003, ISBN 0-00-711505-9 , p. 99.
- ↑ Christian Mann : The demagogues and the people . Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-05-004351-7 , p. 136.
- ^ Thucydides, Peloponnesian War 5, 22.
- ↑ See the remark in the Thucydidesvita of Marcellinus ( Vita Thucydidis 46).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kleon |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Cleon |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Athenian politician and military leader |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 5th century BC Chr. |
| DATE OF DEATH | 422 BC Chr. |
| Place of death | Amphipolis |