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Meidias (; lived during the 4th century BC), an Athenian
Athens

Athens , the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the List of cities by time of continuous habitation, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
 of considerable wealth and influence, was a violent and bitter enemy of Demosthenes
Demosthenes

Demosthenes was a prominent Greeks statesman and orator of History of Athens. His oratorys constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide an insight into the politics and culture of ancient Greece during the 4th century BC....
, the orator
Orator

An orator, or oratist, is a speaker.An orator may also be called an oratarian - literally, "he who orates".Etymology...
. He displayed his first act of hostility in 361 BC when he broke violently into the house of Demosthenes with his brother Thrasylochus in order to take possession of it. Thrasylochus offered, in the case of a trierarch
Trierarch

Trierarch was the title of officers who commanded a trireme in the classical Greek world. In Athens and a few other states this officer was also required to pay for the outfitting and maintenance of the ship....
y, to make an exchange of property with Demosthenes, under a private understanding with the guardians of the latter that, if the exchange were effected, the suit then pending against them should be dropped.

This led Demosthenes to bring against him an accusation of kakegoria (i.e.






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Meidias (; lived during the 4th century BC), an Athenian
Athens

Athens , the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the List of cities by time of continuous habitation, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
 of considerable wealth and influence, was a violent and bitter enemy of Demosthenes
Demosthenes

Demosthenes was a prominent Greeks statesman and orator of History of Athens. His oratorys constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide an insight into the politics and culture of ancient Greece during the 4th century BC....
, the orator
Orator

An orator, or oratist, is a speaker.An orator may also be called an oratarian - literally, "he who orates".Etymology...
. He displayed his first act of hostility in 361 BC when he broke violently into the house of Demosthenes with his brother Thrasylochus in order to take possession of it. Thrasylochus offered, in the case of a trierarch
Trierarch

Trierarch was the title of officers who commanded a trireme in the classical Greek world. In Athens and a few other states this officer was also required to pay for the outfitting and maintenance of the ship....
y, to make an exchange of property with Demosthenes, under a private understanding with the guardians of the latter that, if the exchange were effected, the suit then pending against them should be dropped.

This led Demosthenes to bring against him an accusation of kakegoria (i.e. verbal insult), and when Meidias after his condemnation did not fulfill his obligations, Demosthenes brought against him a dike exules (i.e. a trial for obtaining something already lawfully assigned to the plaintiff). Meidias found means to prevent any decision being given far a period of eight years, and at length, in 354 BC, he had an opportunity to take revenge upon Demosthenes, who had in that year voluntarily undertaken the choregia. Meidias not only endeavoured in all possible ways to prevent Demosthenes from dis­charging his office in its proper form; also, their mutual relations were sored more still when Demosthenes attempted to oppose the proposal for sending aid against Callias
Callias of Chalcis

Callias of Chalcis , son of Mnesarchus, together with his brother Taurosthenes, succeeded his father in the tyrant of Chalcis, and formed an alliance with Philip II of Macedon in order to support himself against Plutarch of Eretria, tyrant of Eretria, or rather with the view of extending his authority over the whole of Euboea–a design w...
 and Taurosthenes of Chalcis
Chalcis

Chalcis or Chalkida, Halkida, Halkis or Chalkis , the chief town of the island of Euboea in Greece, is situated on the strait of the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point....
 to Plutarch
Plutarch of Eretria

Plutarch was a tyrant of Eretria in Euboea. Whether he was the immediate successor of Themison of Eretria, and also whether he was in any way connected with him by blood, are points which we have no means of ascertaining....
, the tyrant
Tyrant

This article is about the political ruler. For other uses see Tyrant and Tyranny In modern usage, a tyrant is a single ruler holding absolute political power over a state or within an organization....
 of Eretria
Eretria

Eretria was a polis in Ancient Greece, located on the western coast of the island of Euboea , south of Chalcis, facing the coast of Attica across the narrow Euboian Gulf....
, and the friend of Meidias. The breaking point arrived when Meidias attacked Demosthenes with open violence during the celebration of the great Dionysia
Dionysia

The Dionysia was a large religious festival in ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus, the central event of which was the performance of tragedy and, since 487 BC, Greek comedy....
. Such an act gave Demosthenes a good opportunity for moving a public incrimination against his enemy (353 BC), and on this occasion wrote Against Meidias, still extant, which was never pronounced as the two adversaries found an amicable arrangement under which Demosthenes retired his accusation for thirty minae
Mina (unit)

The mina is an ancient Ancient Greece unit of weight defined as being 50 shekels. The mina, like the shekel, was also a unit of currency....
.

External links

  • Demosthenes, (in both Greek text and English translation, at )