À l’abri d’Apollon. Les Alcméonides réfugiés à Delphes (514/3-511/0 av. J.-C.)

Abstract

This article re-examines the sources on the exile period that the Athenian family of the Alcmaeonids spent in Delphi after the murder of Hipparchus in 514 BC. The ancient tradition on this episode is contradictory (especially with regard to the construction of the new temple of Apollo and the “corruption” of the Pythia). Therefore, it can be rather difficult to tell Alcmaeonid propaganda apart from that of their Athenian adversaries. Another hypothesis, however, deserves to be assessed: rather than in Athens, the charge of corrupting the Pythia might itself have been elaborated within a Delphic environment.

Keywords

• Alcmaeonids
• Peisistratids
• Sparta
• Delphi
• oracle
• political propaganda