Abantidas (in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Ἀβαντίδας), the son of

Paseas Paseas (Πασέας) was a tyrant of the ancient Greek city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many p ...

, became

tyrant A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to rep ...

of the

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

Sicyon Sicyon (; el, Σικυών; ''gen''.: Σικυῶνος) or Sikyon was an ancient Greek city state situated in the northern Peloponnesus between Corinth and Achaea on the territory of the present-day regional unit of Corinthia. An ancient mona ...

in 264 BC after murdering Cleinias, the father of

Aratus Aratus (; grc-gre, Ἄρατος ὁ Σολεύς; c. 315 BC/310 BC240) was a Greek didactic poet. His major extant work is his hexameter poem ''Phenomena'' ( grc-gre, Φαινόμενα, ''Phainómena'', "Appearances"; la, Phaenomena), the fi ...

. After the

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

, Abantidas had the remaining friends and relations of Cleinias banished or put to death. Aratus, the son of Cleinias, who was then only seven years old, narrowly escaped death by fleeing into the house of Soso, Abantidas' sister, who happened to be married to Prophantus, the late Cleinias' brother. She hid him in the house, and at night sent him secretly off to

Argos Argos most often refers to: * Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece ** Ancient Argos, the ancient city * Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland Argos or ARGOS may also refer to: Businesses ...

. Abantidas was fond of literature, and was accustomed to attending the

philosophical Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

discussions of

Deinias of Argos Deinias of Argos (Δεινίας) was an ancient Greek philosopher and historian of the 3rd century BC. In 252 BC he joined with Aristotle the Dialectician in an attempt to overthrow the rule of the tyrant Abantidas of Sicyon. The two philosopher ...

and

Aristotle the dialectician Aristotle the Dialectician (or Aristoteles of Argos, el, Ἀριστοτέλης; fl. 3rd century BC), was an ancient Greek dialectic philosopher from Argos. In 252 BC, together with the historian Deinias of Argos, he contrived a plot to overth ...

, in the

agora The agora (; grc, ἀγορά, romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. It is the best representation of a city-state's response to accommodate the social and political order of t ...

of Sicyon. During one of these occasions in 252 BC, with the complicity of the two rhetors, he was murdered by his enemies. After his death, his father, Paseas succeeded him as tyrant. But later Nicocles killed Paseas.

Notes

References

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...

''Life of Aratus''
John & William Langhorne (translators), (1770) * Smith, William (ed.); ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 p ...

''
"Abantidas"

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, (1867) Year of birth unknown 252 BC deaths 3rd-century BC Greek people Ancient Greek rulers Ancient Greek tyrants Ancient Greeks who were murdered Ancient Sicyonians {{AncientGreece-bio-stub