Famous Men of Greece · Ch. XI · Unit 4: Sparta and Athens
16. Draco and Solon
Goal: Your child can explain how Solon made Athens a city where all citizens had a vote, and retell his talk with King Croesus.
You'll need
- A map or globe (a free online map works well)
- A notebook or paper and colored pencils
- Your timeline (a long strip of paper on the wall, or a notebook page)
What's in the book
About 600 B.C. Draco writes down the laws of Athens, but the debt laws still crush the poor. Solon forgives debts, frees those sold as slaves, gives every citizen a vote in the Assembly, and so makes Athens stand for "government by all the people." On his travels he tells rich King Croesus, "I call no man happy until he is dead."
The lesson, step by step
Set the scene
Find Athens, then Lydia in Asia Minor (the western part of today's Turkey), the kingdom of Croesus.
Read the chapter together
Read pages 117–122 aloud, or let your child read and help with the hard names. There are three parts: Draco, Solon's laws, and Solon and Croesus.
Narration
Close the book. Ask your child to tell the story back in their own words, from the beginning. Don't correct as they go; just listen. If they get stuck, use a prompt:
- Why did the people of Athens want the laws written down?
- What happened to people who could not pay their debts?
- What was Solon's "shaking-off of burdens"?
- Whom did Solon call the happiest man he had known?
Compare Sparta and Athens
Make two columns. Sparta: government by the few (oligarchy). Athens after Solon: government by all the people; every citizen votes in the Assembly, which the book says was like a New England town meeting.
SayOur word "democracy" comes from Greek words meaning rule by the people.
What we know now
The book says Draco made the old laws gentler. Most history books today remember Draco's laws as very harsh. That's why we still call a very harsh rule "draconian." The book itself says people came to say Draco's laws "were written in blood."
Remember it
"Ah, Croesus," said Solon, "I call no man happy until he is dead."
Say"As rich as Croesus" means very rich.
Afterwards
Talk about it over a few days: what makes a person truly happy? Was Solon right?
Answers to the book's problems
Narration hints: the judges were unfair and favored rich friends; debtors lost farms and could be sold as slaves with their families; Solon forgave debts and freed them; the happiest man was an Athenian peasant who had a good family and died for his country.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.