5 - THE LIBERATION OF ATHENS AND THE ‘ALCMAEONID TRADITION’

Summary

The traditions of Athens' ‘liberation’ from the Peisistratid tyranny in the late sixth century are perhaps the best known, indeed most notorious, of her oral traditions. We have already touched on them from the perspective of family tradition (Ch.. 2.4.2 and 2.4.3). In this chapter, I shall re-examine the whole complex of traditions in various sectors of Athens and over the course of two hundred years. They may be treated as a case study for the character, development and processes of oral tradition in Athens.

So far we have concentrated on a single type of tradition at a time, yet as we have seen also, traditions and memories affect each other: no memory is totally independent. Different types of tradition may complement, reinforce or contradict each other. What, then, was the overall picture provided by the various traditions? What kind of complexity were Thucydides or Herodotus faced with when trying to enquire about the past? If we are to understand the overall character, mechanisms and development of oral tradition, rather than individual examples or groups, we must confront a whole body of related traditions and their gradual changes – in short, the fluid and ever-shifting spectrum of memories which made up Athens' images of its past.

The ‘expulsion of the tyrants’ in the late sixth century was an important part of family tradition and defence. It was also crucial to the polis as a whole: the ‘liberation of Athens’ which supposedly brought back the democracy was one of the most admired parts of Athens' history.