Solon: Poems and Lives

Introduction

Of Solon's own writings only some 280 lines of verse survive, preserved in quotations by Aristotle, Plutarch and other later authors. This volume brings these fragments together with the two most important ancient accounts of him: Plutarch's Life of Solon, which tells of his life, his reforms and his famous conversation with King Croesus of Lydia about happiness; and the chapters of Aristotle's Constitution of the Athenians that describe his reforms. The reader can see how a lawgiver used poetry to explain to his fellow citizens the meaning of justice, moderation and law.