Cylon

See also: cylon

English

Alternative forms

• Kylon

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin Cylōn or its etymon Ancient Greek Κῠ́λων (Kŭ́lōn).

Proper noun

Cylon

1. A male given name of historical usage.
   1. Cylon of Athens, an Athenian noble who attempted a coup in either 636 BCE or 632 BCE.
      • 1579, Plutarke of Chæronea [i.e., Plutarch], “The Life of Solon”, in Thomas North, transl., The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romaines, […], London: […] Richard Field, →OCLC, page 92:

        Now the cittie of Athens had a long time bene vexed and troubled through Cylons heynous offence, euer ſence the yere that Megacles (gouernour of the cittie of Athens) dyd with fayer words handle ſo the confederates of the rebellion of Cylon, which had taken ſanctuarie within the liberties of the temple of Minerua: […]

      • 1683, Plutarch, “The Life of Solon”, in Thomas Creech, transl., Plutarchs Lives. Translated from the Greek […], volume I, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 289:

        Now the Cylonian villany had a long while diſtur’d the Commonwealth, even from that time when Megacles the Archon perſwaded the conſpiratours with Cylon that took ſanctuary in Minerva’s Temple, to ſtand to a fair trial; […]

      • 1987, Ian Morris, “Introduction: the argument”, in Burial and Ancient Society: The Rise of the Greek City-State (New Studies in Archaeology), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 25:

        Cylon, the son-in-law of Theagenes, the tyrant of Megara, is said to have failed in an attempt to establish a tyranny of his own at Athens, probably in the 630s.

      • 2009, Robin Waterfield, “The Rise and Fall of Alcibiades”, in Why Socrates Died: Dispelling the Myths, London: Faber and Faber, →ISBN, “The War Years” section, page 87:

        The coup failed to garner the local support Cylon had hoped for, and he abandoned the Acropolis once he and his supporters had been promised fair treatment.

   2. Cylon of Croton, a leading citizen of Croton who led a revolt against the Pythagoreans, probably around 509 BCE.
      • 1872, Friedrich Ueberweg, translated by Geo[rge] S[ylvester] Morris, “Pythagoras of Samos and the Pythagoreans”, in History of Philosophy, from Thales to the Present Time. […] (Theological and Philosophical Library: […]), volume I (History of the Ancient and Mediæval Philosophy), New York, N.Y.: Scribner, Armstrong & Co., […], part I (The Philosophy of Antiquity), “First Period of Greek Philosophy” section, “Second Division: Pythagoreanism” subsection, page 45:

        It is related of Pythagoras that, after having lived in Crotona nearly twenty years, and soon after the victory gained in 510 b. c. by the Crotoniates, on the river Traeis, over the Sybarites, who were living under the monarchical rule of Telys, he was banished by an opposition party under Cylon, and that he removed to Metapontum and soon afterward died there.

      • 1997, Clifford A[lan] Pickover, “Notes”, in The Loom of God: Mathematical Tapestries at the Edge of Time, New York, N.Y.: Plenum Trade, →ISBN, page 271:

        “Cylonians” were the followers of the mighty Cylon of Croton who, in 490 B.C., chased Pythagoras out of Croton to Metapontum where he later died.

      • 2005, Christoph Riedweg, translated by Steven Rendall, Christoph Riedweg, and Andreas Schatzmann, “Biographical Information”, in Pythagoras: His Life, Teaching, and Influence, Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, →ISBN, section 1 (Fiction and Truth: Ancient Stories about Pythagoras), page 19:

        We also read in Porphyry that for a long time Pythagoras himself and the friends living with him were so greatly admired in Italy that the cities even handed over political responsibility to his pupils. But eventually envy and plotting arose, and in the sources, the beginning of this is associated with a name: Cylon, around whom a catching story grew up.

      • 2016, Leonid Zhmud, “The Papyrological Tradition on Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans”, in Christian Vassallo, editor, Presocratics and Papyrological Tradition: A Philosophical Reappraisal of the Sources; Proceedings of the International Workshop Held at the University of Trier (22–24 September 2016), Berlin: De Gruyter, published 2019, →ISBN, part II (Pythagoreanism and Beyond), page 118:

        Starting from Aristotle and Aristoxenus, the tradition is unanimous that the conflict between Pythagoras and Cylon was personal and political; […]

Derived terms

• Cylonian