Latest / The History of Greece: Philosophy, Empire, and Endless Reinvention — Fexingo History / Cleon of Athens: The Demagogue Who Shaped Democracy
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about the big names of the Peloponnesian War — Pericles, Alcibiades, Brasidas. But there's one figure who is perhaps the most controversial Athenian politician of that era, and his name is Cleon. Luna: Cleon — the one Thucydides really hated, right? Lucas: Exactly. Thucydides gives us a portrait of Cleon that is almost cartoonishly villainous. He calls him 'the most violent of citizens' and says he persuaded the people with 'shameless abuse.' But here's the thing — Cleon was immensely popular with the ordinary Athenians, the demos. He was a leather merchant, not from the old aristocratic families. And he rose to prominence by championing the interests of the common people. Luna: So he was a populist before the word existed. Lucas: Exactly. And his big moment comes in 427 BCE, during the Mytilenean Debate. Mytilene, a city on Lesbos, had revolted against Athens and been crushed. The assembly initially voted to execute all the men of Mytilene and enslave the women and children. But then they had second thoughts. They called a second assembly. And Cleon argued passionately — brutally — that they should stick with the original decision. He said mercy was a sign of weakness, that empire is a tyranny, and that the allies only respect force. Luna: And what happened? Did they carry out the massacre? Lucas: No — and this is where it gets interesting. A man named Diodotus, otherwise unknown, argued against Cleon. He said that mass executions were counterproductive — they'd make future revolts more desperate. The assembly narrowly voted to spare the Mytileneans. A trireme was sent overnight to overtake the first ship carrying the execution order. The rowers were given extra pay and wine, and they made it just in time. So Cleon lost that debate. But he didn't lose his influence. Luna: He sounds like someone who didn't take defeat quietly. Lucas: Not at all. Two years later, in 425 BCE, Cleon engineered one of the most stunning military successes of the war. The Athenians had accidentally fortified Pylos, a rocky promontory on the west coast of the Peloponnese. The Spartans responded by landing a force on the adjacent island of Sphacteria. But they got trapped. The Athenians besieged them, but the siege dragged on. The general in charge, Demosthenes — not the orator, a different Demosthenes — was struggling. So in the assembly, Cleon boasted that he could capture the Spartan hoplites within twenty days. People laughed. But he was given command, alongside Demosthenes. Luna: And did he do it? Lucas: He did. Within exactly twenty days, the Athenians stormed Sphacteria. They captured 292 Spartan hoplites, including 120 of the elite Spartiates. This was a huge blow to Sparta — their reputation for invincibility was shattered. Cleon returned to Athens a hero. He was given the highest honors, including the right to dine in the Prytaneion. For a few years, he was the most powerful man in Athens. Luna: So he wasn't just a loudmouth — he actually delivered. Lucas: He did. And that's what makes him so complicated. He was a successful general and a popular leader. But he also used the popular courts, the dikasteria, to prosecute his political enemies. He raised the pay for jurors, which made him beloved by the poor who served on juries. He pushed for a more aggressive war policy. And he was mercilessly satirized by Aristophanes in his play 'The Knights,' where Cleon is portrayed as a dishonest, gluttonous slave who manipulates the demos personified as an old man. Luna: I've heard about that play — it's supposed to be brutal. Lucas: It's vicious. Aristophanes won first prize at the Lenaea festival in 424 BCE with it. And the lead actor wore a mask resembling Cleon. But here's the irony — Cleon was so powerful that Aristophanes later claimed he had been prosecuted by Cleon for slandering the city. Whether that's true or not, it shows the climate. Cleon embodied a tension in Athenian democracy: between the elite who valued restraint and the masses who wanted action. Thucydides, who was an aristocrat and a general himself, had a clear bias. But modern historians are more divided. Some see Cleon as a genuine voice of the common man, others as a dangerous demagogue. Luna: And how did his story end? Lucas: In 422 BCE, Cleon led an expedition to Thrace to recover the city of Amphipolis, which had been taken by the Spartan general Brasidas. The Athenians were outmaneuvered. In the battle, both Cleon and Brasidas were killed. Brasidas was given a hero's funeral at Amphipolis. Cleon's body was brought back to Athens, but his legacy was already being written by his enemies. Thucydides, who had been exiled for failing to save Amphipolis, had every reason to paint Cleon as a villain. And his version largely stuck. Luna: It makes you wonder how many other figures got a bad historical rap just because they weren't part of the literary elite. Lucas: That's exactly the question. The sources we have — Thucydides, Aristophanes — are all hostile. We don't have a single speech of Cleon's in his own words, only paraphrases. So we have to read against the grain. And it's worth asking: what does it say about Athens that a tanner could rise to lead the city? Cleon represents the radical potential of democracy — and also its perils. Luna: It's a story that still feels relevant. Lucas: Absolutely. And honestly, if today was worth a coffee to you, that's the link — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It helps us keep this show ad-free and digging into these stories. Luna: Yeah, we really appreciate it. Every bit helps. Lucas: So after Cleon's death, the political landscape changed. The peace of Nicias was signed in 421 BCE, but it was fragile. And a new generation of leaders emerged — like Alcibiades, who we've covered. But Cleon's legacy is that he showed how a non-aristocrat could wield power in Athens. He also set a precedent for using rhetoric to sway the masses. The very term 'demagogue' comes from Greek — demagogos, 'leader of the people.' It wasn't necessarily negative at first. Luna: So when did it become a dirty word? Lucas: A lot of that comes from reactions to Cleon. The idea that a popular leader might be a flatterer who leads the demos astray becomes a trope in Greek political thought. Plato and Aristotle both warn against demagogues. Aristotle, in his 'Politics,' says that democracy degenerates into a tyranny of the masses when demagogues arise. And Cleon is often cited as the archetype. But again, it's a contested legacy. Luna: It's interesting that Athens — the birthplace of democracy — also gave us the first demagogue. Lucas: It's almost like the two are connected. Democracy gives voice to the people, and that voice can be harnessed by skilled speakers. The question is whether those speakers serve the public good or their own ambition. Cleon probably did both. He championed the poor, raised jury pay, but also pursued a harsh imperial policy. And in the end, he died trying to recover a city that Athens had lost. There's a tragic dimension to it. Luna: I'd love to hear more about the battle at Amphipolis. But maybe that's for another episode. Lucas: Absolutely. We'll get to Brasidas and Amphipolis in detail soon. For now, I think the key takeaway is that Cleon forces us to think about how we judge political leaders. Are we too reliant on biased sources? And what does it mean for a democracy when a charismatic figure can sway the assembly? Those are questions that have never gone away.