Opening Fragments — Solon in Plato Scroll…
Continue → · About this text
Solon · F. C. Conybeare
When the Athenians grew weary of the extended and difficult war with Megara over the island Salamis, they passed a law that in future no one on pain of death was to propose in writing or speech that the city should lay claim to Salamis. Solon found the disgrace hard to bear and when he saw that many of the young men wanted to renew the war, but lacked the courage to do so themselves due to the law, he pretended to be insane and word was passed from his household to the city that he showed signs of madness. Secretly, Solon composed elegiac verses and after practising, reciting them from memory, he rushed into the marketplace, wearing a small felt cap. After a large crowd assembled, he climbed the herald’s stone and recited the elegy that begins: I have come in person as a herald from lovely Salamis, composing song, an adornment of words, instead of speech. This poem was entitled Salamis …
Editions (plain text / reader):