Axiochus of

Scambonidae Scambonidae or Skambonidai ( grc, Σκαμβωνίδαι) was a deme of ancient Attica, located in the city of Athens. It was located within the Themistoclean Wall, north of the Acropolis. Etymology In the past it was believed that this deme was ...

, son of Alcibiades (II) (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Ἀξίοχος Ἀλκιβιάδου Σκαμβωνίδης, ''Axíochos Alkibiádou Skambōnídēs''; mid-5th century – late 5th century BCE) was an ancient Athenian political figure and aristocrat of the

Alcmaeonidae The Alcmaeonidae or Alcmaeonids ( grc-gre, Ἀλκμαιωνίδαι ; Attic: ) were a wealthy and powerful noble family of ancient Athens, a branch of the Neleides who claimed descent from the mythological Alcmaeon, the great-grandson of Nes ...

family. He was the uncle and cohort of the famous general and statesman

Alcibiades Alcibiades ( ; grc-gre, Ἀλκιβιάδης; 450 – 404 BC) was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. He was the last of the Alcmaeonidae, which fell from prominence after the Peloponnesian War. He played a major role in ...

(III), whom he accompanied in domestic and foreign affairs.

Debra Nails Debra Nails (born November 15, 1950) is an American philosophy professor who taught at Michigan State University. Nails earned her M.A. in philosophy and classical Greek from Louisiana State University before going on to earn a Ph.D. in philosophy ...

, ''The People of Plato'', Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2002; pp. 63–64 This association led to his recurrence within ancient literature, including works attributed to

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institutio ...

and

Lysias Lysias (; el, Λυσίας; c. 445 – c. 380 BC) was a logographer (speech writer) in Ancient Greece. He was one of the ten Attic orators included in the "Alexandrian Canon" compiled by Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace ...

Life

The son of the famous Alcibiades' grandfather, brother of

Cleinias Cleinias ( grc, Κλεινίας), father of Alcibiades, brother of Axiochus, and member of the Alcmaeonidae family, was an Athenian who married Deinomache, the daughter of Megacles, and became the father of the famous Alcibiades. Plutarch tel ...

and perhaps the nephew of

Aspasia Aspasia (; grc-gre, Ἀσπασία ; after 428 BC) was a '' metic'' woman in Classical Athens. Born in Miletus, she moved to Athens and began a relationship with the statesman Pericles, with whom she had a son, Pericles the Younger. Acc ...

, Axiochus' lineage placed him within the elite and controversial Athenian family known as the Alcmaeonidae. Both the historical record and Lysias' apocryphal "Funeral Oration" speech imply Axiochus' close association with Alcibiades. Axiochus had a son, Cleinias (III). As reported by

Andocides Andocides (; grc-gre, Ἀνδοκίδης, ''Andokides''; c. 440 – c. 390 BC) was a logographer (speech writer) in Ancient Greece. He was one of the ten Attic orators included in the "Alexandrian Canon" compiled by Aristophanes of Byzantium a ...

and attested to within the archaeological record, Axiochus was indicted in 415 BCE along with Alcibiades in the profanation of the

Eleusinian Mysteries The Eleusinian Mysteries ( el, Ἐλευσίνια Μυστήρια, Eleusínia Mystḗria) were initiations held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at the Panhellenic Sanctuary of Elefsina in ancient Greece. They are th ...

, a point of major domestic turmoil within the Peloponnesian War that preceded the calamitous

Sicilian Expedition The Sicilian Expedition was an Athenian military expedition to Sicily, which took place from 415–413 BC during the Peloponnesian War between Athens on one side and Sparta, Syracuse and Corinth on the other. The expedition ended in a devast ...

. This led Axiochus to flee Athens, causing him to lose his property and wealth in the process. Like Alcibiades, he seems to have returned to Athens sometime between 411 and 407. He participated in the defense of the generals from the

Battle of Arginusae The naval Battle of Arginusae took place in 406 BC during the Peloponnesian War near the city of Canae in the Arginusae islands, east of the island of Lesbos. In the battle, an Athenian fleet commanded by eight strategoi defeated a Spartan f ...

in 406, which marks his final attribution in the historical record.

In literature

Several ancient authors included Axiochus in their work, and his character is represented as scandalous and excessive. In his eponymous dialogue, Aeschines of Sphettus lambastes Axiochus' carousal with Alcibiades; the speech attributed to Lysias (the contents of which are presumed by scholars to be fictional) describes a case of incestuous debauchery with his famous nephew through their co-marriages with both Medontis of Abydus and the daughter that resulted.Lysias, ''Funeral Oration'', 46Steven D. Smith, ''Greek Identity and the Athenian Past in Chariton: The Romance of Empire'', 2007. p. 226 The apocryphal Platonic dialogue that bears his name depicts his loss of self-confidence while grappling with mortality on his deathbed. Plato's '' Euthydemus'' presents prominently Axiochus' son Cleinias as a budding student of

Socrates Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no te ...

engaging dialectic against the

sophists A sophist ( el, σοφιστής, sophistes) was a teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics, and mathematics. They taught ...

Euthydemus and Dionysodorus.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Axiochus 5th-century BC Athenians Alcmaeonidae Ancient Athenian generals Ancient Greeks accused of sacrilege Athenians of the Peloponnesian War

Life

In literature

See also

References