Solon

Discover the life of Solon (c. 638 – c. 558 BC): Athenian statesman, poet, reformer, and one of the Seven Sages who laid early foundations for Athenian democracy. Explore his reforms, philosophy, and surviving maxims.

Introduction

Solon (Greek: Σόλων) was an archaic Athenian statesman, lawmaker, political philosopher, and poet. Seven Sages of Greece and is credited with instituting foundational legal, economic, and political reforms in Athens that tempered aristocratic power and mitigated social conflict.

Because so little survives of his original writings, much of what is known about Solon comes through later authors such as Herodotus, Plutarch, Aristotle (in The Athenian Constitution), and various speeches and fragments preserved by later writers.

In this article, we trace his life, reforms, philosophical legacy, and some surviving sayings attributed to him.

Early Life and Background

• Solon was born around c. 638 BC (some sources put c. 630 BC) in Athens, into a family of moderate status among the Athenian nobility (the Eupatridae).

• His father’s name is often given as Execestides.

• Although from a noble clan, Solon is described as having relatively modest means and being drawn into commerce to supplement his status and resources.

• According to later tradition, Solon was related to the future tyrant Pisistratus: their mothers were said to be cousins.

Little is known about his youth beyond these reports, and later accounts often blend fact and legend.

Statesman and Reformer

Political Context & Need for Reform

By the early 6th century BC, Athens was suffering from serious economic inequality, widespread debt slavery, land concentration among the wealthy, and social tension between aristocrats and the poorer classes.

The existing laws (especially those of Draco) were harsh and inflexible, with many offenses punishable by death, contributing to fear and social unrest.

Athenians turned to Solon for a solution. He was given special authority (as archon or magistrate) to reshape laws and stabilize the polis.

Archonship and Reforms

In 594 BC, Solon was chosen as archon with unusually broad powers to implement reforms.

His reforms can be grouped into several categories:

Economic & Debt Relief (Seisachtheia)

• Solon abolished debt slavery: he cancelled debts that were secured by a person’s freedom, and liberated those enslaved by debt.

• He invalidated many horoi (mortgage markers) that represented burdens on indebted citizens.

• He prohibited using one’s person (i.e. self as collateral) to pay debts.

These measures were collectively known as the Seisachtheia, often translated “shaking-off of burdens.”

Class & Political Eligibility Reform

• Solon reorganized citizen classes based on property (land yield or wealth) rather than birth.

• He created four classes of citizens, determined by income or produce in agricultural terms, with different rights and eligibility for offices:

  1. Pentakosiomedimnoi

  2. Hippeis

  3. Zeugitai

  4. Thetes
     

• The higher classes had greater eligibility to hold public offices, but the system allowed for broader participation than before.

Legal and Institutional Reform

• Solon retained (and allowed to stand) Draco’s homicide laws (i.e. the laws about murder) but repealed or replaced most of Draco’s harsher statutes.

• He established new courts and legal procedures, promoting more equitable justice.

• His laws were inscribed on axones (rotating wooden or stone slabs) in the Prytaneion, making them publicly viewable.

• He also made reforms in family law, inheritance, and other civil matters.

Moral & Social Reforms

• Solon sought to curb excesses of wealth, luxurious lifestyle, and greed.

• Some ancient sources attribute to him regulations of dowries, control of extravagance, and efforts to moderate social ethics.

Withdrawal & Travels

After implementing his reforms, Solon abdicated or relinquished his special powers and left Athens for a period of time (traditionally 10 years), so that others could not pressure him to revoke them.

During his absence, he traveled widely (legends mention visits to Egypt and Lydia, and that he met King Croesus), offering counsel where he could.

A famous anecdote preserved by Herodotus relates a dialogue between Solon and Croesus: Croesus, proud of his wealth, asked who the happiest man was; Solon replied that one cannot judge happiness until after death — “Call no man happy until he is dead.”

Legacy and Influence

• Solon is often credited with setting the foundations of Athenian democracy by restraining aristocratic dominance and providing institutional reforms.

• Later Athenian leaders and orators (such as Demosthenes) praised and invoked his name as a symbol of just governance.

• His reputation as a wise lawgiver led to his inclusion among the Seven Sages of Greece — a group of legendary wise men whose maxims were celebrated in antiquity.

• Over centuries, his name “Solon” became a byword for “lawgiver” or a just legislator in many languages.

However, historians caution that many of the traditions around Solon are later interpolations, idealizations, or literary reconstructions rather than strictly historical.

Personality & Philosophy

Solon emerges in ancient sources as a mediator, someone who strove to balance competing factions rather than dominate them.

He also wrote poetry — elegies, iambics, and other lyrical forms — using verse to promote his political ideas, moral reflections, and civic exhortations.

He reportedly had a contemplative attitude toward human fortune, change, and humility — ideas that echo in his reputed saying about happiness and the impermanence of success.

Surviving Sayings & Fragments

Because almost none of Solon’s works survive intact, only fragments and quotations remain. Here are a few of the more famous lines or sentiments attributed to him:

• “Call no man happy until he is dead.”
  This is perhaps his most famous maxim, from the story of his counsel to Croesus, cautioning against judging a life prematurely.

• A fragment often translated:

  “I have done my work; my fame and name
  Bore me beyond what sun doth shine.”
  (One of his elegiac verses, in the vein of self-assertion, though fragmentary and uncertain in authorship)

Because the fragments are so limited, many other attributed lines may reflect later authors’ additions or misattributions.

Lessons from Solon

• Reform through balance: Solon’s approach was not revolutionary overthrow but gradual adjustment — using legislation to moderate extremes.

• Institutional legacies over personalities: His reforms lasted beyond his own lifetime (even if imperfectly) because they built structures rather than rely solely on personal power.

• Humility before fortune: His famous maxim warns against hubris and reminds leaders that judgment must be tempered by time.

• Law as moral and civic tool: He saw legislation not merely as enforcing order, but as guiding virtue, preventing abuses, and preserving community stability.

• The gap between ideal and practice: Solon’s life and the later history of Athens show that reforms often demand continual vigilance, interpretation, and re-negotiation.

Conclusion

Solon remains one of the most revered ancient figures in Greek history — a symbol of wise legislative reform, mediation between elite and popular interests, and moral restraint. While the historical Solon is often obscured by legend, his reforms shaped the trajectory of Athenian government, influenced later democratic thinking, and provided a lasting model of political moderation rooted in law, not tyranny.