Andocides

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Andocidēs (c.440–c.390 BC), one of the earlier Attic orators and member of an ancient aristocratic Athenian family which traced its descent from the god Hermes. He was accused of sacrilege, notably in sharing in the mutilation of the Hermae in 415, and in order to secure his own immunity and, he claimed, to save his father, who had been implicated, confessed to his involvement. Subsequently he repudiated the confession, but at the time his account was accepted by the Athenians. He retired from Athens and began to trade as a merchant when a decree was passed limiting his rights as a citizen. We possess three of his speeches, the first, ‘On his Return’, delivered in the ecclesia, probably in 410, when he unsuccessfully pleaded for the removal of the limitation on his rights. The second, ‘On the Mysteries’, was made in 399 when, having been restored to full public rights under the amnesty of 403, he successfully defended himself against a charge of still being subject to the former limitation (the sixth speech in the works of Lysias is apparently part of the prosecution); it is interesting as an eye-witness account of an intriguing event in Athenian history. His third speech, ‘On the Peace’, is a political discourse urging peace with Sparta in 390, the fourth year of the Corinthian War. The Athenians rejected the peace, and Andocides retired into exile and oblivion. He was not, like the other orators, a trained or professional rhetorician, but a man of ability and shrewdness, who excelled in a natural and persuasive eloquence.

Greek Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Andocides

Andocides, or Andokides , (Greek Ἀνδοκίδης, 440–390 BC) was a logographer (speech writer) in Ancient Greece. He was one of the ten Attic orators included in the "Alexandrian Canon" compiled by Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace in the third century BCE.

He was implicated during the Peloponnesian War in the mutilation of the Herms on the eve of the departure of the Athenian expedition against Sicily in 415 BC. Although he saved his life by turning informer, he was condemned to partial loss of civil rights and forced to leave Athens. He engaged in commercial pursuits, and returned to Athens under the general amnesty that followed the restoration of the democracy (403 BC), and filled some important offices. In 391 BC he was one of the ambassadors sent to Sparta to discuss peace terms, but the negotiations failed. Oligarchical in his sympathies, he offended his own party and was distrusted by the democrats. Andocides was no professional orator; his style is simple and lively, natural but inartistic.

List of Extant Speeches (available at the Perseus Digital Library)

1. On the Mysteries (Περὶ τῶν μυστηρίων "De Mysteriis"). Andocides' defense against the charge of impiety in attending the Eleusinian Mysteries.
2. On His Return (Περὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ καθόδου "De Reditu"). Andocides' plea for his return and removal of civil disabilities.
3. On the Peace with Sparta (Περὶ τῆς πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους εἰρήνης "De Pace"). An argument for peace with Sparta.
4. Against Alcibiades (Κατὰ Ἀλκιβιάδου "Contra Alcibiadem"). Generally considered spurious.

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• Andocides. (Speeches at the Perseus Project.)

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