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Eupatridae (literally "good fathered", i.e. "offspring of noble fathers" or "the well-born") refers to the ancient
nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...
of the Greek region of
Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean Se ...
.


Origin

Tradition ascribes to
Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes describe ...
, whom it also regards as the author of the union (''
synoecism Synoecism or synecism ( ; grc, συνοικισμóς, ''sunoikismos'', ), also spelled synoikism ( ), was originally the amalgamation of villages in Ancient Greece into ''poleis'', or city-states. Etymologically the word means "dwelling toge ...
'') of Attica around
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
as a political centre, the division of the Attic population into three classes, ''Eupatridae'', '' Geomori'' and '' Demiurgi''. The
lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoreti ...
s mention as characteristics of the ''Eupatridae'' that they are the
autochthonous Autochthon, autochthons or autochthonous may refer to: Fiction * Autochthon (Atlantis), a character in Plato's myth of Atlantis * Autochthons, characters in the novel ''The Divine Invasion'' by Philip K. Dick * Autochthon, a Primordial in the ' ...
population, the dwellers in the city, the descendants of the royal stock.
Philippides of Paiania Philippides, son of Philomelos, of Paiania was an Athenian aristocratic oligarch. He is identified with the Philippides prosecuted by Hypereides in 336/5 B.C. who proposed honours for Macedonians after the Battle of Chaeronea, among them Alexan ...
, son of Philomelos hailed from Attica nobility and was one of the richest Athenians in the age of
Lycurgus of Athens Lycurgus (; Greek: ''Lykourgos''; c. 390 – 324 BC) was a logographer in Ancient Greece. He was one of the ten Attic orators included in the "Alexandrian Canon" compiled by Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace in the third ce ...
. It is probable that after the time of the ''synoecism'' the nobles who had hitherto governed the various independent communities were obliged to reside in Athens, now the seat of government; and at the beginning of Athenian history the noble clans form a class which has the monopoly of political privilege. It is possible that in very early times the ''Eupatridae'' were the only full
citizen Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
s of Athens; for the evidence suggests that they alone belonged to the '' phratries'', and the division into phratries must have covered the whole citizen body. It is indeed just possible that the term may originally have signified true member of a clan, since membership of a phratry was a characteristic of each clan. It is not probable that the Eupatrid families were all autochthonous, even in the loose sense of that term. Some had no doubt immigrated to Attica when the rest had long been settled there. Traces of this union of immigrants with older inhabitants have been detected in the combination of ''Zeus Herkeios'' with ''Apollo Patros'' as the ancient gods of the phratry.


Relation to other classes

The exact relation of the ''Eupatridae'' to the other two classes has been a matter of dispute. It seems probable that the ''Eupatridae'' were the governing class, the only recognized nobility, the ''Geomori''—the country inhabitants of all ranks, and the ''Demiurgi''—the commercial and artisan population. The division attributed to Theseus is always spoken of by ancient authorities as a division of the entire population; but
Georg Busolt Georg Busolt (13 November 1850 – 2 September 1920) was a German historian of Classical history. Busolt, born at Gut Kepurren near Insterburg, was the son of the East Prussian landowner Adolf Julius Busolt (1818–1900). He attended the Gymnasium ...
maintained the view that the three classes represent three elements in the Attic nobility, namely, the city nobility, the
landed nobility Landed nobility or landed aristocracy is a category of nobility in the history of various countries, for which landownership was part of their noble privileges. Their character depends on the country. *The notion of landed gentry in the United K ...
and the commercial nobility, and exclude altogether the mass of the population. At any rate it seems certain from the little we know of the early constitutional history of Athens, that the ''Eupatridae'' represent the only nobility that had any political recognition in early times.


Political history

The political history of the ''Eupatridae'' is that of a gradual curtailment of privilege. They were at the height of their power in the period during the limitation of the monarchy. They alone held the two offices, those of ''polemarch'' and ''
archon ''Archon'' ( gr, ἄρχων, árchōn, plural: ἄρχοντες, ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem αρχ-, mean ...
'', which were instituted during the 8th century BC to restrict the powers of the kings. In 712 BC the office of king was itself thrown open to all Eupatrids. They thus had the entire control of the administration, and were the sole dispensers of justice in the state. At this latter privilege, which perhaps formed the strongest bulwark of the authority of the ''Eupatridae'', a severe blow was struck (c. 621 BC) by the publication of a criminal code by
Draco Draco is the Latin word for serpent or dragon. Draco or Drako may also refer to: People * Draco (lawgiver) (from Greek: Δράκων; 7th century BC), the first lawgiver of ancient Athens, Greece, from whom the term ''draconian'' is derived * ...
, which was followed by the more detailed and permanent code of
Solon Solon ( grc-gre, Σόλων;  BC) was an Athenian statesman, constitutional lawmaker and poet. He is remembered particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic and moral decline in Archaic Athens.Aristotle ''Politics'' ...
(c. 594 BC), who further threw open the highest offices to any citizen possessed of a certain amount of landed property, thus putting the claims of the ''Eupatridae'' to political influence on a level with those of the wealthier citizens of all classes. The most highly coveted office at this time was not that of ''
basileus ''Basileus'' ( el, ) is a Greek term and title that has signified various types of monarchs in history. In the English-speaking world it is perhaps most widely understood to mean "monarch", referring to either a "king" or an "emperor" and al ...
'', which, like that of the ''
rex sacrorum In ancient Roman religion, the ''rex sacrorum'' ("king of the sacred things", also sometimes ''rex sacrificulus'') was a senatorial priesthood reserved for patricians. Although in the historical era, the '' pontifex maximus'' was the head of Rom ...
'' in Rome, had been stripped of all save its religious authority, but that of the ''archon''; soon after the legislation of Solon repeated struggles for this office between the ''Eupatridae'' and leading members of the other two classes resulted in a temporary change. Ten ''archon''s were appointed, five of whom were to be ''Eupatridae'', three ''Agroeci'' (i.e. ''Geomori''), and two ''Demiurgi'' (
Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
, '' Ath. Pol.'' xiii.2). This arrangement, though short-lived, is significant of the decay of the political influence of the ''Eupatridae'', and it is not likely that they recovered, even in practice, any real control of the government. By the middle of the 6th century BC the political influence of birth was at an end. The name ''Eupatridae'' survived in historical times, but the ''Eupatridae'' were then excluded from the
cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...
of the Semnae at Athens, and also held the hereditary office of expounder of the law in connection with purification from the guilt of murder. The combination of these two characteristics suggests some connection with the legend of
Orestes In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; grc-gre, Ὀρέστης ) was the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, and the brother of Electra. He is the subject of several Ancient Greek plays and of various myths connected with his madness and ...
. Again,
Isocrates Isocrates (; grc, Ἰσοκράτης ; 436–338 BC) was an ancient Greek rhetorician, one of the ten Attic orators. Among the most influential Greek rhetoricians of his time, Isocrates made many contributions to rhetoric and education throu ...
(xvi.25) says of
Alcibiades Alcibiades ( ; grc-gre, Ἀλκιβιάδης; 450 – 404 BC) was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. He was the last of the Alcmaeonidae, which fell from prominence after the Peloponnesian War. He played a major role in t ...
that his grandfather was a Eupatrid and his grandmother an
Alcmaeonid The Alcmaeonidae or Alcmaeonids ( grc-gre, Ἀλκμαιωνίδαι ; Attic: ) were a wealthy and powerful noble family of ancient Athens, a branch of the Neleides who claimed descent from the mythological Alcmaeon, the great-grandson of Nes ...
, which suggests that in the 5th century BC the Eupatrids were a single clan, like the Alcmaeonids, and that the name had acquired a new signification. A pursuit of these two suggestions has established the probability that this, Eupatrid, clan traced its origin to Orestes, and derived its name from the hero, who was above all a benefactor of his father. The word will well bear this sense in the two passages in which
Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or co ...
(''Electra'', 162, 859) applies it to Orestes; and it is likely enough that after the disappearance of the old ''Eupatridae'' as a political corporation, the name was adopted in a different sense, but not without a claim to the distinction inherent in the older sense, by one of the oldest of the clans.


References

* {{EB1911 article with no significant updates Social classes of ancient Athens Ancient Greek government