Biographies of Early Greek Lawgivers in the Suda

Abstract

The Byzantine Suda provides biographical lemmata for the archaic Greek lawgivers Lycurgus, Zaleucus, Solon, Pittacus, and Dracon. This paper aims to analyse the main features of these entries, focusing on how individual legislators are characterized, connected to each other, and associated with other wise men and philosophers (e.g., the Seven Sages). The structural elements shared by these entries distin guish them from other lemmata in the Suda on historical figures and contribute to the distinctive nature of this group. For instance, of the three entries dedicated to Solon, the lemma Σ 776 Adler defines him as a ‘philosopher, legislator, and demagogue’ and provides essential information on his life, including his relationship with the tyrant Pisistratus, his exile, and his death. Likewise, Zaleucus is described as a ‘Pythagorean philosopher and lawgiver’ who died ‘fighting for his homeland’ (Ζ 12 Adler). As for Lycurgus of Sparta, while the lemma Λ 823 Adler is very concise, the following entry (Λ 824 Adler) provides many details concerning his biography and the excellent constitution he gave to the Spartans, emphasizing the direct relationship between Sparta’s political success and Lycurgus’ contribution. Thus, this paper thoroughly examines all the entries on the Greek lawgivers to better understand the details given in the Suda, and it also explores the relationship between these biographical headwords and the accounts of the same figures given by Plutarch, Diogenes Laertius, and other parallel sources