Hippokleides
vol. VIII p.1772-1773
Hippokleides
1) Son of Teisandros (Herod. VI 128. 129. Suid. s. οὐ φροντὶς Ἱπποκλείδῃ); as well as being from the family tree that goes back to the Philaides (cf. especially Toepffer Att. Geneal. 278ff. Ed. Meyer Forsch. z. alten Gesch. I 174, 1) given by Pherekydes (in Marc. u. Thuc. 3 = frg. 20 M.), which has, however, been corrupted and is full of gaps. <50> Hippokleides was one of the suitors seeking the hand of Agariste, the daughter of the tyrant Kleisthenes of Sikyon. However, Megakles won out and not the Alkmeonides; the wedding of Agariste should be placed in the 6th century BCE, and with reference to Herodotus' comment (Ὀλυμπιέων ὦν ἐόντων VI 126), it should be in either 576 or 572; cf. Toepffer loc. cit. 279, 2. Busolt Griech. Gesch. I2 661ff., 4. The story of Hippokleides' courtship is known (Herod. VI 126ff. Athen. XIV 628c. d. Suid. loc. cit.): <60> that to begin with, Hippokleides was the suitor with the highest chances of getting Agariste's hand, but then he lost himself all favour with his potential father-in-law by means of a jaunty dance he performed at a banquet; he replied to Kleisthenes' rejection with the following: οὐ φροντὶς Ἱπποκλείδῃ, a phrase which then became an idiom (cf. Bährs Zusammenstellung zu Herod. VI 129). <page break 1772/1773> It shouldn't be doubted that Hippokleides had good chances in courting Agariste, but was then outdone by Megakles; it's only the reason given for Kleisthenes' decision which can't be historically accurate. Whether it came from a poetic source or not, as Kirchhoff argues (Über die Entstehungszeit des herodot. Geschichtswerkes 42ff.) is to be doubted; the desire to explain the saying οὐ φροντὶς Ἱπποκλείδῃ would have given the first reason for the poem, <10> so it would be of an aetiological origin. There's also the fact that, as Macan (Herodotus the fourth, fifth and sixth Books II 204ff.) first realised, Herodotus uses a story to elaborate which comes up in Indian animal-fables, about a peacock who was courting the daughter of the golden goose, who was unsuccessful on account of a similarly shameless dance (handed down to us in Jātaka nr. 32). <20> My colleague, the Sanskrit scholar M. Winternitz, whom I consulted in this matter, also thinks that precedence should be given to India in this case. The comical role which Hippokleides plays and the colour of this story corresponded to the desires of the Alkmeonides, who were political rivals to the Philaides (on this Busolt loc. cit. II2 304. ed. Meyer Gesch. d. Alt. III 565ff.); with this in mind, the context in which the story is found in Herodotus with the entire Alkmeonides episode, the bias of which is known, then makes sense (on this, Kirchhoff loc. cit. 38ff.). <30> The fact that Hippokleides was not considered to be the air-head patron he appears to be in Herodotos in Athens, but instead had a good enough reputation, is best shown by the fact that he later became Archon in the year 566/5; the year can be worked out from a combination of Pherekydes' remark that the Panathenaea was founded under Hippokleides, with the date given for this from Eusebius (II 94/5 Sch. Vers. Arm. Hieron., on this Syncell. 454, 8) under Ol. 53,3 = a. Abr. 1415. <40> Outside of the sources mentioned, see further about Hippokleides in Kirchner Prosop. att. I 7617.
[Swoboda.]
2) Hippokleides, Athenian archon, ἐφ' οὗ Παναθἠναια ἐτέθη Pherecyd. in Marcellin. Vita Thucyd. 3 p. 187 Westermann. According to Hieronym. p. 65 Schoene, this happened a. Abr. 1451 = 566/6.
[Kirchner.]
3) Epicurean, a student of Epicurus. He was a close friend of Polystratos, who was born on the same day, and with whom he shared all his property. The pair also died on the same day. <50> Val. Max. I 8 ext. 17. Usener Epicurea Ind. nom. Zeller Phil. d. Gr. IV 370.
[v. Arnim.]