The restraint of the Alcmaeonids, according to Herodotus: The wedding of Agariste and Megacles
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25145/j.fortunat.2025.42.05Keywords:
Herodotus, Greek tyrants, literature and history, symposion, folklore and literatureAbstract
The episode of the wedding contest organized by the tyrant Cleisthenes of Sicyon for his daughter Agariste, that we only preserve thanks to Herodotus (6.126-131), is studied in detail. The result, with the against-the-odds victory of Megacles, a member of the Alcmaeonid family, against Hippoclides, the Athenian who was in principle the most prominent contender, is explained by the way in which Herodotus uses, in his way of narrating the episode, the terms referring to prudence and restraint, which I consider to be especially appropriate for Megacles. To attribute these distinctive qualities, an exhaustive analysis is carried out of the key term of the entire episode, κατέχω, fundamental to understanding it, in the context of an in-depth study of the most defining historical, literary and folkloric aspects of the episode, which does not appear to be very critical of tyranny nor of the Alcmaeonids.
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