Hegetorides
Encyclopedia
Hegetorides was a citizen of the Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 island of Thasos
Thasos
Thasos or Thassos is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea, close to the coast of Thrace and the plain of the river Nestos but geographically part of Macedonia. It is the northernmost Greek island, and 12th largest by area...

 during the Peloponnesian War
Peloponnesian War
The Peloponnesian War, 431 to 404 BC, was an ancient Greek war fought by Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. Historians have traditionally divided the war into three phases...

 between Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

 and Sparta
Sparta
Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...

 (431
431 BC
Year 431 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cincinnatus and Mento...

-404 BC
404 BC
Year 404 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Tribunate of Volusus, Cossus, Fidenas, Ambustus, Maluginensis and Rutilus...

), mentioned by the 2nd century historian Polyaenus
Polyaenus
Polyaenus or Polyenus vs. e]]; , "many proverbs") was a 2nd century Macedonian author, known best for his Stratagems in War , which has been preserved. The Suda calls him a rhetorician, and Polyaenus himself writes that he was accustomed to plead causes before the emperor...

. Lemprière
John Lemprière
John Lemprière , English classical scholar, lexicographer, theologian, teacher and headmaster...

's Classical Dictionary
Lemprière's Bibliotheca Classica
The Bibliotheca Classica , or Classical Dictionary containing a full Account of all the Proper Names mentioned in Ancient Authors is the best-known work of John Lemprière, an English classical scholar. Edited by various later scholars, the dictionary long remained a readable if not absolutely...

 claims that when Hegetorides saw that his city was besieged by Athenian forces and that there was a law declaring death to anyone who spoke of peace, he went into the agora
Agora
The Agora was an open "place of assembly" in ancient Greek city-states. Early in Greek history , free-born male land-owners who were citizens would gather in the Agora for military duty or to hear statements of the ruling king or council. Later, the Agora also served as a marketplace where...

 with a rope tied around his neck. He told his fellow citizens to do whatever they wished with him, provided that they saved the city from the starvation and death that the continued war promised. The Thasians were shocked from their determination, sued for peace, and pardoned Hegetorides.

The main classical authority on the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides
Thucydides
Thucydides was a Greek historian and author from Alimos. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 BC...

, does not mention Hegetorides at all, and appears to mention Thasos itself only once, in the context of Galepsus
Galepsus
Galepsus was an ancient Greek city on the peninsula of Sithonia, the central peninsula of the Chalcidice, in Thrace. It was probably located on a hill about 8 km to the north of Torone and about 17 km from Amphipolis. It belonged to Delian League. It was founded as a colony of Thasos...

, a colony of Thasos (Book V of his History of the Pelponnesian War). It is possible that the story of Hegetorides originates prior to the Peloponnesian War, as Thasos revolted from the Athenian alliance around 463 BC and was attacked by Athens. Unfortunately, as respects the legitimacy of the tale, the Thasians do not appear to have sued for peace. When, in 411 BC, Thasos revolted again during the Peloponnesian War, a Spartan governor assumed power on the island, suggesting the Thasians, rather than suing for peace, prevailed over Athens.

See also

  • Thasian rebellion
    Thasian rebellion
    The Thasian rebellion was an incident in 465 BC, in which Thasos rebelled against Athenian control, seeking to renounce its membership in the Delian League...

  • Pacifism
    Pacifism
    Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...

  • Civil disobedience
    Civil disobedience
    Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...

  • Non-violent resistance
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