Histories

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.

He went then to Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi, and asked the oracle if he should cast Adrastus out, but the priestess said in response: “Adrastus is king of Sikyon [22.725,37.9833] (Perseus)Sicyon, and you but a stone thrower.” When the god would not permit him to do as he wished in this matter, he returned home and attempted to devise some plan which might rid him of Adrastus. When he thought he had found one, he sent to Boeotian Thebes saying that he would gladly bring Melanippus son of Astacus into his country, and the Thebans handed him over.

When Cleisthenes had brought him in, he consecrated a sanctuary for him in the government house itself, where he was established in the greatest possible security. Now the reason why Cleisthenes brought in Melanippus, a thing which I must relate, was that Melanippus was Adrastus' deadliest enemy, for Adrastus had slain his brother Mecisteus and his son-in-law Tydeus.

Having then designated the precinct for him, Cleisthenes took away all Adrastus' sacrifices and festivals and gave them to Melanippus. The Sicyonians had been accustomed to pay very great honor to Adrastus because the country had once belonged to Polybus, his maternal grandfather, who died without an heir and bequeathed the kingship to him.

Besides other honors paid to Adrastus by the Sicyonians, they celebrated his lamentable fate with tragic choruses in honor not of Dionysus but of Adrastus. Cleisthenes, however, gave the choruses back to Dionysus and the rest of the worship to Melanippus.