Greek Word Draconian – Drastic Measures in Ancient Greece

 

 

The word, draconian (δρακόντειος – drakónteios), meaning harsh, severe, cruel and drastic, is used in English and other European languages but its origins are Greek.

Draconian derives from Draco (also called Drako or Drakon), an important aristocratic statesman, who lived in Athens in the 7^th century B.C.

 

Draco of Athens

 

The city of Athens was in an ongoing state of political decline and social unrest, things were dire, so, in about 621 BC, the citizens asked Draco to abolish the system of oral law, as well as the blood feud (vendetta or clan wars), which were under the control of the aristocratic class and introduce new, written laws, which could only be enforced by a court of law.

 

 

Little did the ancient Athenians know how harsh these new laws of Draco would be, if they had known in advance, maybe they would never have requested a reformation of the system in the first place.

Ultimately though, Draco’s famously harsh laws brought about equality for the Athenians, regardless of their wealth or status, and gave us the word draconian!

 

Life in Ancient Athens before the draconian laws of Draco

 

 

Before the introduction of Draco’s laws, there was no written law in ancient Athens; laws did exist but only orally and were little known to the citizens of Athens, especially the poorer ones with no status, which made for an extremely unfair legal system.

 

 

 The aristocrats owned most of the land and the land they didn’t own was under their control, they were also in control of politics and how state money was spent.

The rest of the Athenians; the ‘hoi polloi’, who were ruled over by the upper crust, lived without money or land, had no political power and absolutely no say at all where oral laws were concerned.

Even if the common man had knowledge of these by word of mouth only laws, they were made to   exclusively serve the aristocracy.

 

The brutal laws of Draco

 

 

Draco’s laws, which were the first written constitution of Athens, were originally written on wooden tablets before being engraved on stone slabs which were then placed on view for the public.

The publicizing of the laws meant that all citizens were made aware of the rules and could now appeal to the Areopagus (the court,(guardians of the laws, who kept an eye on magistrates to make sure there was no corruption), if they felt they had been wronged or treated unjustly.

 

 

The Areopagus is a colossal rock, northwest of the Acropolis, the Greek name Areios Pagos – Aρειος Πάγος, translates to the  ‘Hill of Ares’ and legend would have it, that Ares (Roman – Mars), was supposed to have been tried by the gods on the Areopagus for the murder of Poseidon’s son Halirrhothius.

 

 

Most of Draco’s laws are not known, what we do know though, is that they were extremely harsh, brutal in fact.

Even the smallest and most insignificant of crimes, such as stealing a cabbage, was punishable with death.

 

Does the punishment fit the crime?

 

 

Plutarch, ancient Greek philosopher and historian, stated:

‘It is said that Draco himself, when asked why he had fixed the punishment of death for most offences, answered that he considered these lesser crimes to deserve it, and he had no greater punishment for more important ones’.

Another Athenian wit announced:

‘These laws have been written with human blood’.

 

 

Amongst other things, Draco introduced the Council of Four Hundred, later to play a part in in Athenian democracy and he also gave any free man, who had the means to equip himself with military apparel and weaponry, the right to vote.

 

Life in Ancient Athens after the draconian laws of Draco

 

Notwithstanding the severness of Draco’s drastic new laws, which disregarded the question of; ‘does the punishment fit the crime?’ the effects were positive.

All citizens of Athens, regardless of what they had or didn’t have, or who they were or who they weren’t, became equal under the new laws, the quality of life improved, people gained a better understanding of what discipline meant and the crime rate dropped astoundingly.

 

 

Even though Draco’s laws may have only been in force for about fifty years, they had restored law and order and gave Athens a semblance of its former self.

All of Draco’s sometimes cruel laws, except for the one of homicide being punishable with the death penalty, were thrown out and replaced by his successor, Solon (630 – 560 BC), an Athenian statesman, lawmaker and poet, in 594 BCE.

 

 

 

The bizzare death of Draco

 

Despite not much being known about Draco’s life in general, his death was another matter and not surprisingly, it was one of the most bizarre deaths of ancient Greece.

After his reign of power and on being exiled from Athens by its citizens, Draco spent his remaining days on the island of Aegina.

Around 600 B.C., after speaking to a full house in the Aeginetan theatre, there on Aegina, as was the custom in those days, his fans showed their approval by throwing any item of clothing upon his head that came to hand; shirts, coats, cloaks, hats, you name it, they threw it.

 

 

It seems he must have been quite popular in Aegina; the heap of clothing which covered Draco was astonishingly huge, so huge in fact that he suffocated and died!

An extraordinary death for an extraordinary man, who left us, in memory of him, the word Draconian, today though, I’m sure no one would be sentenced to death for stealing a cabbage.

 

Draco makes a comeback thanks to Harry Potter

 

As you can imagine, Draco was never a name that took off in Greece but with the advent of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books and films, Draco made a comeback, reincarnated as Draco Malfoy, played by the actor Tom Felton.

 

 

The character of Draco Lucius Malfoy, a British pure-blood wizard, only son of Lucius and Narciss Malfoy, attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where he quickly developed a rivalry with Harry Potter.

I’m pretty sure this Draco, is better known today, by the ordinary man in the street, than the Draco of Athens from thousands of years ago!

I can find no evidence to back me up on this but do you remember Gargamel, the evil wizard, sworn enemy of the Smurfs, whose goal is to transform all the smurfs into gold?

 

 

Well, in the Greek version of the Smurf Hanna-Barbera cartoon series, Gargamel is called Dracoumel, they do say, there is no such thing as a coincidence, another Draco alter ego?

 

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