The mountain dominating the Temple, to the right (east), is Lycabettos; the distant mountain to the left is Pentelikon.
Amid these conflicting mythical traditions it was generally agreed that the last king of Athens was Codrus, who was said to be a descendant of Ion, the head of the Ionic branch of the Hellenic race, the latter name being derived from Hellen, the grandfather of Ion. When the Dorians invaded Attica, after taking possession of the Peloponnesus, they were informed by a Pythian oracle that if the life of Codrus were spared they would gain possession of the country. Codrus became aware of this, and in order to save his country he went out one day in disguise and provoked a quarrel with some of the enemy, who put him to death. As soon as this became known to the Dorians they abandoned the hope of conquest, and contented themselves with annexing Megara. By a strange process of reasoning the grateful subjects of the self-sacrificing king straightway abolished the monarchy, on the ground that it would be impossible to find any one worthy to sit on the throne of so noble a sovereign! The name of Codrus was not the only name in the early history of Athens that was associated with patriotic self-devotion. Long before, one of the three daughters of Cecrops, Agraulos, was said to have leapt from the Acropolis as a voluntary sacrifice, when it was declared by the oracle that there was no other means of bringing a war which had been long going on to a successful issue. Her name was given to a grotto on the north, near the spot on which she met her death; and it was there that the Athenian youth, when they reached manhood, offered sacrifice and swore to be faithful to their country even unto death.
After the death of Codrus the office of archon was instituted as an office for life, tenable by the leading member of the royal family. The late king’s two sons, Medon and Neileus, quarrelled about the succession, and the latter emigrated with a large portion of the population to Asia Minor, where he founded the Ionic Amphictyony of twelve cities, extending from Miletus to Phocæa. For about 300 years the archonship continued to be held for life; but after that the tenure of office was changed to ten years, and at a still later period it became an annual appointment, and was thrown open to the eupatrids or nobles. Ultimately it became a collegiate charge, being held by nine men simultaneously, who divided the functions of government among them.
Towards the end of the seventh century B.C. a legislator came upon the scene in the person of Draco, whose name has become a synonym for severity, though it would seem that what he did was to codify existing laws and customs rather than to introduce new regulations. Even at an earlier period laws had been reduced to writing among the Epizephyrian Locrians of Italy by Zaleucus at the bidding of the Delphian oracle, for the purpose of restoring order in the state. The system adopted was of the nature of the lex talionis. Severe measures were doubtless needed, for it was these Locrians who got the better of the natives by taking a mutual oath with them to the effect that the two peoples should be allowed to enjoy the land in common, so long as they stood upon this earth (such were the terms of the oath) and had heads on their
