Aristocrates ( grc, Ἀριστοκράτης) was a name belonging to two ancient Greek rulers in
Orchomenus in
Arcadia
Arcadia may refer to:
Places Australia
* Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
* Arcadia, Queensland
* Arcadia, Victoria
Greece
* Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese
* Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...
.
The elder Aristocrates of Orchomenus was the son of Aechmis. He was
stoned to death
Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times.
The Torah and Ta ...
by his own people for chasing a virgin-priestess of
Artemis
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified wit ...
Hymnia
Hymnia ( grc, Ὑμνία) was an epithet of the Greek goddess Artemis under which she was worshipped throughout Arcadia. She had a temple someplace between Orchomenus and Mantineia. We know from the geographer Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσ ...
into the temple, and raping her beside a statue of the goddess. This story has some similarities to the one about
Aristoclides that was first described by
Church Father
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical pe ...
Saint Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...
in his work ''
Against Jovinianus''.
The younger Aristocrates of Orchomenus (or sometimes Aristocrates II) was a son of Hicetas, and grandson of the preceding. He served as the leader of the Arcadians in the
Second Messenian War
The Second Messenian War was a war which occurred ca. 660–650 BC between the Ancient Greek states of Messenia and Sparta, with localized resistance possibly lasting until the end of the century. It started around 40 years after the end of the F ...
, when they espoused with other nations in the
Peloponnesus
The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge whi ...
the side of the Messenians. He was bribed by the
Lacedaemonians
Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred ...
, and was guilty of treachery at the
Battle of the Great Foss
The Battle of the Great Foss occurred in 682 BC during the Second Messenian War (685–668 BC). The word "foss" derives from the Latin fossa, meaning "ditch" or "trench." According to Pausanias the outcome of the battle was determined by trick ...
; and when this was discovered some years afterwards, he was, like his grandfather, stoned to death by the Arcadians.
His family was either merely deprived of their sovereignty (according to the writer
Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to:
*Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium''
*Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC
* Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...
) or completely destroyed (according to
Polybius). Later critics believed the latter statement could not be correct, as we know that his son
Aristodamus ruled over Orchomenus and a great part of Arcadia. The date of this Aristocrates appears to have been about 680-640 BCE.
[ Karl Otfried Müller, Aeginetica, p. 65, Dor. i. 7. ~ 11]
References
{{reflist, 30em
Arcadian kings
Messenian Wars
Ancient Arcadian Orchomenians