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Demos: The Men Who Made and Perfected Ancient Athenian Democracy

Khalid Elhassan January 13, 2025 16 min

Democracy - Ancient Athens — Ancient Athens. Imgur

15. The Would-Be Tyrant and the Fake Goddess

Pisistratus entering Athens with his fake goddess. Ancient World History

Athens’ poorest and most populous region was the Hill District. Its impoverished residents got little from Solon’s reforms other than a meaningless vote, so they invited Pisistratus to make himself tyrant. With their support, he marched on the city in a procession headed by a tall girl dressed up as the goddess Athena. She blessed Pisistratus, and declared it her divine will that he be made tyrant. Other Athenians saw through the mummery, and chased Pisistratus and his followers out of town. Fleeing, he bought silver and gold mines in northern Greece and got rich off their proceeds. Then, investing his wealth in mercenaries, Pisistratus returned to Athens and tried again, this time with a well-equipped private army instead of a girl dressed up as a goddess. It worked, and in 546 BC, he overthrew the government and had himself proclaimed tyrant.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.