Latest / Ancient Greece: Philosophy, Democracy, and Endless War — Fexingo History
The Cylon Conspiracy: Athens' Bloody Curse and the Alcmaeonids
Long before Cleisthenes reformed democracy, Athens was haunted by a bloody religious curse that shaped its politics for generations. This episode traces the Cylonian conspiracy of 632 BCE, when an Olympic victor attempted a coup, and the subsequent massacre of his followers by the Alcmaeonid family. We explore how this act of sacrilege — the killing of suppliants at Athena's altar — created a hereditary stain (the 'Cylonian miasma') that enemies used to discredit Alcmaeonid politicians like Pericles for over a century. Lucas and Luna discuss the political machinations behind…
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