Histories

These men with their factions fell to contending for power, Cleisthenes was getting the worst of it in this dispute and took the commons into his party.[*](For a comprehension of the reform briefly recorded by Herodotus, readers are referred to Grote, ch. xxxi.) Presently he divided the Athenians into ten tribes instead of four as formerly. He called none after the names of the sons of Ion—Geleon, Aegicores, Argades, and Hoples—but invented for them names taken from other heroes, all native to the country except Aias. Him he added despite the fact that he was a stranger because he was a neighbor and an ally.

In doing this, to my thinking, this Cleisthenes was imitating his own mother's father, Cleisthenes the tyrant of Sikyon [22.725,37.9833] (Perseus)Sicyon,[*](Cleisthenes ruled at Sikyon [22.725,37.9833] (Perseus)Sicyon from 600 to 570.) for Cleisthenes, after going to war with the Argives, made an end of minstrels' contests at Sikyon [22.725,37.9833] (Perseus)Sicyon by reason of the Homeric poems, in which it is the Argives and Argos [22.7333,37.6417] (Perseus) Argos which are primarily the theme of the songs. Furthermore, he conceived the desire to cast out from the land Adrastus son of Talaus, the hero whose shrine stood then as now in the very marketplace of Sikyon [22.725,37.9833] (Perseus)Sicyon because he was an Argive.