Database: Critias

Critias was an Athenian aristocrat of the 5th century BCE, and a prominent leader of the oligarchic faction during the Peloponnesian War. Probably a member of the government of the , he was later one of the 30 Tyrants who took power in the aftermath of Athens’ at . He seemed to play a prominent role in the condemnation of his more moderate colleague Theramenes, who opposed the violence perpetrated by the government under the protection of Sparta. In contrast to his colleague, he appears to have been one of the more radical members of the Tyrants, and to have personally plotted some of its most reprehensible measures: murders, confiscations, banishments, as well as the mass execution of the population of Eleusis. In May of 403 B.C.E., he was killed at the Battle of Munychia by the returning democratic forces of Thrasybulus. Also depicted as a prolific and appreciated author of poetry, Critias was renowned for being one of the most famous disciples of Socrates. As a result, critics tend to explain this association with the Tyrants as one of the main factors behind the philosopher’s condemnation to death in 399 B.C.
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