Codrus(Κόδρος), the son of Melanthus,
and king of Athens, where he reigned, according to tradition, some time after the conquest of
the Peloponnesus by the Dorians, about B. C. 1068. Once when the
Dorians invaded Attica from Peloponnesus, they were told by an oracle, that they should be
victorious if the life of the Attic king was spared. The Dorians accordingly took the greatest
precautions not to kill the king. But when Codrus was informed of the oracle, he resolved to
sacrifice himself, and thus to deliver his country. In the disguise of a common man, he
entered the camp of the enemy. There he began quarrelling with the soldiers, and was slain in
the struggle. When the Dorians discovered the death of the Attic king, they abstained from
further hostilities, and returned home. Tradition adds, that as no one was thought worthy to
succeed such a high-minded and patriotic king, the kingly dignity was abolished, and a
responsible archon for life was appointed instead. In our accounts of this transaction there
are points which justify the belief, that when, after the death of Codrus, quarrels arose
among his sons about the succession, the eupatrids availed themselves of the opportunity for
stripping the chief magistrate of as much of his power as they could, and that they succeeded
in altogether abolishing the kingly dignity, for which that of a responsible archon was
instituted. Medon accordingly succeeded his father as archon, and his brothers emigrated to
Asia Minor, where they founded several of the Ionian colonies. (Hdt.
5.76; Lycurg. c. Leocr. 20; Vell. 1.2;
Justin, 2.6, &c.; Paus. 4.5.4,
7.2; Strab. xiv. p.633,
&c.)
[[L.S](author.L.S)]