BATTISTI, DANIELA, "Synetos" [Greek] as Aristocratic Self-Description , Greek, Roman and 
Byzantine Studies, 31:1 (1990:Spring) p.5 

L'UVE't6<; as Aristocratic 
Self-Description 

Daniela Battisti 

L YNETm: is a verbal adjective formed from the verb 
croviruu; its plain referential meaning is 'intelligent', 'wise', 
or 'sagacious'. Yet the adjective and related noun auv~(nc;, 

I shall argue, have a wider and more complex significance in aris­
tocratic ideology. This view complements Gregory Nagy's 
explanation of auv~'toc; as a key-word in praise-poetry,rarallel 
to crOcpOC;.1 If the aristocracy is the exclusive referent 0 praise 
poetry,2 which can be understood only by those who share a 
common education, aristocrats will call themselves synetoi, as 
the only 'intelligent ones'. This becomes, in effect, another way 
of designating aristocrats as a group. 

In Olympian 2, composed for Theron of Acragas, and Pythian 
5, for Arcesilaus IV of Cyrene, Pindar addresses his audience as 
synetoi.3 The question arises who these synetoi are and why 
Pindar addresses them in this way. As Bruno Gentili has shown, 
the relationship between the poet and his patron, the circum­
stances of the performance, and the audience are all compon­
ents of epinician poetry.4 The success of Pindar's praise-poetry 
requires not only technical mastery but also responsiveness to 
the expectations of his patron-audience,5 with whom the poet 
shares a linguistic and ethical code. Those who do not share this 

1 Cf G. Nagy, The Best of the Achaeans (Baltimore 1979) 239f; for a 
different interpretation of this word, see B. Gentili, Bacchilide. Studi (Urbino 
1958) 27. 

2 Cf Nagy (supra n.1) 22: -The conceit of praise poetry is that it praises the 
noble only, not the base." 

3 Nagy (supra n.1) also cites Bacchyl. 3.85: <i>pov£ovn o"uvuCx yapUco. 
<4 B. Gentili, Poesia e pubblico nella Grecia antica (Rome 1984) 153-202 

(=Poetry and its Public in Ancient Greece, tr. A. T. Cole [Baltimore 1988] 
115-54). 

5 On the aristocratic character of Pindar's poetry see R. W. Burton, Pindar's 
Pythian Odes (Oxford 1962) 134; cf. W. DONLAN, The Aristocratic Ideal in 
Ancient Greece (Lawrence 1980 [hereafter 'Donlan']) 95-111. 

5 



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6 IYNETOI AS ARISTOCRATIC SELF-DESCRIPTION 

code are excluded from poetic understanding and enjoyment. 
Birth, education, and culture combine to make up a community 
of ethical values and of the language that serves as the vehicle of 
these values. The word synetos characterizes the KClA-Ot 
KaYCl80t who claim intellectual eminence. Pindar's usage 
presupposes a correspondence between being aristocratic and 
being intelligent. 6 

The 'aristocracy' in Pindar of course covers a heterogeneous 
group: it is an aristocracy not only of birth but also of wealth 7 

and of a common moral and political culture. Pindar in fact 
worked within tyrannies where wealth easily supplanted birth 
as a criterion for inclusion in the aristocracy, which was not 
simply a caste but also a social and cultural melting pot of the 
rich, oligarchs, and hereditary aristocrats. Accordingly, I shall 
extend Nagy's view to show how synesis serves as a criterion 
for aristocratic self-definition outside praise-poetry. 8 My 
evidence is derived from relevant passages recorded in the 
TLG data-base. We begin with the archaic and classical poets 
and conclude with Thucydides. I shall focus upon those 
instances of synesis and synetos in which a clear nexus can be 
established between verbal usage and ideological, cultural, and 
social outlook. 9 

, Pindar (01. 2.83-88) says: ·Under my arms. in the quiver. I have many 
arrows that speak clearly only to those who can understand (cruvE'tounv). but 
they demand interpreters to the vulgar herd ('to nav, 85)." The scholiast 
explains these verses by quoting Aristarchus: WG'tE 'toi~ J,l£v Gocpo~ Gocpa ~ha­
A.iYE<J6at Kai J.lTt EK6EGJ.la, 'toi~ ~£ i~tc&tat~ J.lTt Ka'ta~'1A.a y{vE<J6at. The 
synetoi and the sophoi are all those who differentiate themselves from the 
mob of i~tiO'tat through their knowledge and are able to understand Pindar's 
verses. 

7 The difference between being rich and being aristocratic is not pro­
nounced during the archaic period: see T. J. Figueira. ·The Ten Archontes of 
579/8 at Athens." Hesperia 53 (1984) 447-73 at 456. 

8 ef. Donlan. ·Social Vocabulary and its Relationship to Political Propa­
ganda in Fifth-Century Athens." Q vee 27 (1978) 99 n.5. 

9 For other occurrences cf. B. Snell. Die Ausdrucke fur den Begriff des Wis­
sen in der vorplatonischen Phiwsophie (Berlin 1924) 40-59. the most compre­
hensive work on GUVEGt~ and related words. Snell believes that synesis is an 
exclusively moral quality: moderation opposed to extreme boldness. which be­
comes an intellectual skill only with the sophists and Euripides. For synesis as 
·coscienza morale" see A. Cancrini. SYNEIDESIS. Il tema semantico della 
«con-scientia» nella Grecia antica (Rome 1970) 20-23.61-64. 



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DANIELA BATTISTI 7 

1. Synesis in Archaic and Classical Poetry 

The social connotation of synetos is easily recognizable in 
Alcaeus, where there is a clear correspondence between the 
politician and the aristocrat. At the outset of fr.326 L.-P., in the 
context of civic stasis metaphoricaly expressed by the image of 
a ship beset by a storm, we find the verb a.cruvv £'t1lJ.1J.1 t: "'1 do 
not understand." 10 Alcaeus is a.cruv E'tO<; because he cannot 
comprehend the forces of political action represented by the 
restless movement of the winds {=factions).l1 By at least the 
time of Heraclitus (All. 5.1-9), the poem was interpreted as a 
reference to Myrsilus and the uprising in Mytilene that ended in 
tyranny; the poet and his companions (3, a.J.1J.1E<;) are set adrift 
amid political changes that have caused Alcaeus to lose his 
political understanding. Division among the aristocrats has 
destroyed their intellectual, ethical and political coalition. 
Alcaeus has therefore become asynetos; synesis no longer 
serves to delimit a single, traditional ethical outlook. 12 

Theognis also rrovides examples of synetos and related terms 
as key-words 0 the symbolic self-representation of the aris-

10 For the verb owitU.Lt cf Snell (supra n.9) 40-52. 
11 For commentaries on the fragment see E. Degani and V. Burzacchin~ An­

tologia dei lirici greci (Florence 1977) 217-22; Gentili (supra n.4) 263; L. 
Edmunds, Cleon, Knights and Aristophanes' Politics (Washington 1987) 9-15; 
A. Alom, -La tempesta di Alceo: Nota tecnica al fr.208aV I," Museum Tuscu­
/anum 57 (1987) 24-33. 

12 Indeed. this intellectual-political ability has already become a prerequisite 
for political action. if Pittacus is answering Alcaeus when he says that it is a 
peculiarity of the synetoi to forecast misfortunes before they happen (Diog. 
Laert. 1.78): EA.£Y£ O'uv£'trov IlEv <lv8prov, 1tp1.V y£via6at 'ta 8uoX£p11, 1tpovo­
TlO'at 01tCOC; IlTt yEVT\'tat. <lv8p£l.coV 8i. y£voll£va £~ 9ia6at. The synetoi become 
those who. more far-seeing than Alcaeus, acted to end civil discord by 
backing Pittacus as aisymnetes (Strab. 13.2.3): n l.'t'taxoc; 8' dC; J.1i:v 'tTtV 'troY 
8uvaO''t£1.rov xa'taA.uO'1.V EXPtlO'a'to 'tU Ilovapx\~ xal. au'toc;. x(l'taA.uO'ac; 8£ 
<l1ti8cox£ 'tTtV au'tovoll\av 'tU 1tOA.£1.. For the meaning of aisymnetes cf Arist. 
Pol. 1285a30ff, Eth.Nic. 1167a28ff; Dion. Hal. Ant.Rom. 5.73.3; Pluto Sol. 14.7. 
Cj. A. Andrewes, The Greek Tyrants (London 1974) 96; R. E. Romer. -The 
Aisymneteia: a Problem in Aristotle's Historical Method," AJP 103 (1982) 
25-46. On Alcaeus' particular situation cf Donlan 63, who defines his attitude 
as • a combination of the older heroic ideal of glory and honor and the newer 
notions of partisan politics. pride of blood, class consciousness-all blended 
with a sense of nostalgic loss, bewilderment at social changes. retreat into 
transient pleasures." The verb eXO'UVVE'tT\IlIl1. is thus a symbolic and emphatic 
expression of this bewilderment. 



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8 IYNETOI AS ARISTOCRATIC SELF-DESCRIPTION 

tocracy. Among his rules for the young is this (563ff): "You 
must take part in the banquet, sit close to a good man, skilled in 
all knowledge (aocptrlv), to understand ('to\! auvu:'iv) when he 
says something wise ('tt aocpov). '" Attendance at the aristocrats' 
symposium is not a simple occasion for amusement but an 
opportunity for education. If we consider aocpir, as an aris­
tocratic and exclusive mastery of a certain 'knowledge' and 'tt 
aocpov as the message of a shared ethical code, 13 'to\! auvu:'iv is 
the decodification of the message, which requires the right 
knowledge. 14 The symposium offers the means of acquiring this 
knowledge. 1s In these lines of Theognis, then, the verb cruvliiv 
provides the semantic context in which to place auv£at<; and re­
lated words. Synesis is an exclusive intelligence that is charac­
teristic of aristocrats and a product of a specific education. 16 AI­
caeus, who "does not understand, '" is comparable to Theognis. 
Both poets inhabit a world in which stasis prevails, but the first 
"does not understand,'" while the other "understands many 
things'" (419, 1tOAAa Jl£ 1(a1. auvu~v'ta 1tapEPX£'tat), though he 
cannot express himself openly (315-18).17 

13 On o()(j)Ux and oocpot cf. G. Nagy, «A Poet's Vision of his City," in T. J. 
Figueira and G. Nagy, edd., Theognis of Megara: Poetry and the Polis (Balti­
more 1985) 22ff; see also Donlan 77-95. 

14 OUV1£tV finds an equivalent in Latin intellegere. Cicero offers a good 
example of the 'educational' connotation of this verb in Brut. 183, where he 
distinguishes vulgi iudicium from intelligentium iudicium. Some speakers are 
lauded by the many (multitudine) and others are approved of by only those 
who understand (intelligentium). Cicero thus believes in two kinds of 
judgment: one that does not rely on technical knowledge, and another based 
on the rules and the principia of oratory, thus an 'educated' and an 
'uneducated' way of viewing the oration. Cf. Brut. 320: quantum non quivis 
unus ex populo, sed existimator doctus et intelligens posset cognoscere. 

15 The synetoi are therefore those who learn and understand more easily: cf. 
Evenus of Paros (fr.1.5f Gentili/Prato), ·One could quickly persuade, by speak­
ing well, the synetoi who are easily taught" ('tote; ~uv£'toUe; li' o.v ne; 1tdO'£1.£ 
'tuXlo'ta "A.i:yrov £~. Ol1t£p xal. i>*o'tTle; dol. lil&xoxa"A.tl1e;); and Dionysius 
ChaIcus (fr.4 Gentili/Prato), ayy£"A.tae; aya8ile; li£1)p' \'t£ 1t£UOOfl£VOl xal. 
xu"A.txrov Eplliac; lilaA:uO'a't£ xa l. xa'tu8£a8£ ,",V ~-uv £ow nap' tflOl. xa l. 'tali£ 
flav8uv£'t£. 

16 Other significant examples: 1163f, ocp8a"A.flOl. xal. YMOOoa xal. oua'ta xal. 
v60e; avSprov tV fl£O'Orol 0''t,,8£rov tv O'uv£'tOte; cp-u£'tal; 903f, (lO'tle; avUA.roalv 
'tTlP£t xa'tcl xpT]J.1a'ta Bt1prov, xulitO"tflv ap£'t1}v 'to~ OUV1£tOW EX£1.; cf. 1237, 1240, 
1284. 

17 For analysis of these verses see L. Edmunds, ·Theognis 815-18 and the 
Banquet of Attaginus," CP 82 (1987) 325ff. 



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DANIELA BATTISTI 9 

A significant reflex of the archaic aristocratic meaning is 
preserved in Aristophanes' portrait of Aeschylus in Frogs. The 
chorus (1481-99) celebrates Aeschylus as a man who has 
~UVEatV ';KPt~roJ,lEVllV. Synesis here is not a plain intellectual 
quality but reflects rather his particular aristocratic outlook as 
contrasted with that of Euripides. Among his accusations 
against Euripides,18 Aeschylus mentions that he diverted the 
youth from physical activity while arousing in them an 
excessive interest in the art of speaking and political debate 
(1069££). This complaint recalls the chorus' words at 729££ that 
the city despises those among the citizens who are EUYEVE~, 
arocppova<;. OtKatOu<;. KaAou<; 'tE KclyaeOU<; Kat 'tpacp£v'ta<; EV 
xaAatO''tpat<;.19 For Aeschylus, Euripides' bad influence has an 
ideological connotation, since physical activity is considered an 
important part of the education of the KaAotKclyaeoi.20 

Dionysus confirms this characterization. Hesitant about 
which poet to bring back on earth, he recognizes that Euripides 
diverts him (ilooJ,lat) but he considers Aeschylus O'o<pov (1413; 
cf 1434, () J,lEV aocpro<; yap dXEV. () 0' E'tEPO<; aacpro<;). Dionysus 
thus sums up the value of Aeschylus' poetry in a catchword of 
the aristocratic scheme of virtues. 21 Aeschylus in fact will be the 
one who, chosen by Dionysus, will persuade the polis to 
change her hatred against 'tOl<; XPlla'tOl<;22 and her (unwilling) 
reliance on 'tOl<; XOVllPOl<; (cf. 1454££). Furthermore, as the 
chorus points out, he returns home Ota 'to auvE'to<; dvat (1490) 
for the welfare of his fellow-citizens (Ex' clyaeip J,lEV 'tOl<; xo­
At'tat<;. 1487) and of his genos and friends (~uyy£vEat 'tE Kat 
cpo..otO't, 1489). Aeschylus' return is important not only for the 
welfare of the polis but also for genos and phi/oi, according to a 

18 For Euripides as champion of the democratic view see Donlan 150-53; 
but cf W. B. Stanford, ed., Aristophanes, The Frogs2 (London 1963) at 952f. 

19 Cf Donlan 146, who observes that this particular chorus offers a detailed 
list of all the aristocratic virtues. 

20 On monopolization of this word by the oligarchs and the conservative 
groups in fifth-century Athens see A. W. Gomme, -The Interpretation of 
KAAOI KArA801 in Thucydides 4.40.2," CQ 47 (1953) 65-68. 

21 Cf another subtle allusion at 1445, where Dionysos invites Euripides to 
k ' 9' I '\, spea o.~o. £O't£pov 1tCl)~ ... lc:o.t oo.<p£o't£pov. 

22 On the political meaning of this word see Donlan 203 n.23. 



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10 IYNETOI AS ARISTOCRATIC SELF-DESCRIPTION 

traditional political pattern in which philia and the ties to one's 
own group have as much or more importance than the polis. 23 

Euripides offers a different use of synesis in his invocation at 
892f: aieTtP, E/lOV ~6(J1c'l/la, Kat 'YAO:rt'tllC; a'tpocpt'Y~ Kat ~UVEat 
Kat /lUK'tTtPEC; oacppav'tTtPtOt. Aristophanes, using sophistic 
language, here emphasizes the celebration of intelligence 
(~uVEat) that is so prominent in Euripides' plays.24 Snell, as we 
have noted, has shown that synesis becomes intellectual skill for 
Euripides and the sophists.25 Accordingly, Euripides' synesis is 
the result of a different education, one that is centered on the 
sophists' teaching of philosophy and rhetoric (el Aeschylus' 
reproaches at 1069ff). The opposition between the two poets 
appears therefore to involve not only two different views of 
paideia, but also a different ethical exploitation of intelligence. 26 
Aeschylus' synesis is the product of the traditional aristocratic 
paideia, which is restricted to a select group.27 Euripides' 
synesis, on the other hand, seems to imply a new concept of 
intelligence common to all men: 'to cpp6vt/lov EU'Y£VEta Kat 'to 
aUVE'tOV b eEOC; o{o(Oatv, OUX b 7tAoU'tOC; (fr.52.8f N.). In these 
lines there is an interesting coupling of two virtues that (despite 
their different sources) are associated on the basis of their 
common independence from wealth, for neither of the two can 
be bought or achieved with money. 'Prudence' is mainly an aris­
tocratic attribute, for it is strictly related to nobility of birth. 'to 

23 On philia ef. W. R. Connor, The New Politicians of Fifth-Century 
A thens (Princeton 1971) 40ff. 

24 Among classical authors in the TLG data-base, Euripides provides the 
most numerous occurrences, followed by Thucydides. Only two instances 
appear in Aeschylus (frr.44 A.5, 36 B Mette). Sophocles uses synetos twice (OT 
498, fr.269.52 Radt), in both cases referring to gods (Zeus, Apollo, and Ge). 

25 Cf n.9 and Stanford (supra n.18) ad loe. for the belief that here Aris­
tophanes is mocking Euripides' materialism. For the sophistic use of these 
words cf. J. Schmidt, A ristophanes und Euripides (Greifswald 1940) 347f. A 
sophistic connotation may also be present at 87M: A.£1ttOA.Oyot>e; ~t>v£tae; 
q>pivac; ... av~prov YVCOJ.l.DtU1tCOV, Mav de; E'ptV o~t>J.I.£plJ.1.VO\e; E'Aeco(J\ (J'tp£~A.o'i(J\ 
naAalGJ.l.a(J\v aV't\A.oyouv't£e;. 

26 Aristophanes seems to be not particularly fond of synesis and its deriva­
tives. This dislike is perhaps a reaction to the sophistic reinterpretation of the 
term. The fact that it occurs four times in this comedy (against once in Vesp. 
632f, Av. 456, Thes. 464, Eecl. 204) may be related to Aristophanes' desire to 
emphasize the older connotation of the word in his contrast of the two poets. 

27 As P. W. Rose has shown for Sophocles in "Sophocles' Philoetetes and 
the Teachings ofthe Sophists," HSCP 80 (1976) 49-105. 



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DANIELA BATTISTI 11 

O'UVE'tOV is a quality that everyone can possess, for it is granted 
by the gods to mortals without consideration of their social 
status. Since the entire context is unknown, interpretation is 
open to dispute. But in his emphasis on the universal nature of 
'to O'UVE'tOV, Euripides may be questioning the old view that 'to 
Ot>VE'tOV is an aristocratic prerogative like 'to cppoVtJ.l.ov. 

Elsewhere in Euripides, the meaning of synesis and synetos 
varies according to the context. 28 Sometimes an aristocratic 
connotation seems to be at issue. At Orestes 920f, for example, 
the messenger reports that during the debate at Argos the only 
one who 'tOl<; yE XP1l0'tOl<; E-\) A,EYEtV EcpaivE'to (930) is an 
ai)'to'UPYo<; (920) who is nevertheless intelligent (921, ~'UVE'tO<; 
OE).29 The way in which Euripides claims synesis for the farmer 
is apologetic, as if he expects resistance to the idea. But it is clear 
that he means to challenge this response. In characterizing the 
farmer, Euripides indicates that he rarely comes into the city 
and the agora (919f); he is (lK:EpatO<; and his life is blameless 
(ciVExi1tA,llK'tov itOKllKOO<; ~iov, 922). He is not one of those 
shrewd and ambitious persons who pay a sophist for instruc­
tion in political success. That he is not an aristocrat by birth is 
suggested by the remark that he is not good-looking (918), for 
good looks are conventionally a distinctive aristocratic trait (cf 
the characterization of Thersites [II. 2.211-19], who is altogether 
unattractive, morally, socially, and physically).30 Euripides' point 
cannot be clearer: even though the farmer is not noble by birth, 
he is synetos. The emphatic way in which Euripides remarks on 
the mutual agreement of views between him and the XPllo'tOt<; 
brings out a particular connotation of synetos. As Di Benedetto 
has shown, the farmer belongs to that group who were 
sincerely opposed to demagogic politics, preferred to stay out 

28 Cf. A. Rodgers' interpretation of synesis at Orestes 396 as "a growing 
awareness of the inner self, and an increasingly subtle psychological analysis,» 
in ·LUV£(H~ and the Expression of Conscience," GRBS 10 [1969] 241-54 at 
254; see also C. W. Willink, Euripides, Orestes [Oxford 1986] 150f). 

29 On the political meaning of XPllO'tO; see Connor [supra n.23] 88, 189; Wil­
link ad 930). 

30 Cf. W. G. Thalmann, "Thersites: Comedy, Scapegoats, and Heroic Ideol­
ogy in the Iliad, » TAPA 118 (1988) 1-28. 



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12 l:YNETOl: AS ARISTOCRATIC SELF-DESCRIPTION 

of political turmoil and competition, and held a conservative 
and moderate attitude based on traditional values. »31 

For Pindar and Theognis only aristocrats were synetoi; here 
the farmer can be synetos so long as he shows a conservative 
ethical outlook. In the same way he can be «lV()peioe;, even if he 
is not good-looking. There is thus a shift in the traditional usage. 
In the past, only the aristocrats were synetoi, for they shared 
the same ethical views, embodied and shaped in that education 
which made them intelligent. In Euripides, synetos still 
emphasizes that ethical outlook with a loss, however, of the 
class and educational component. Orestes was written after the 
restoration of democracy in 410, and such usage must be 
viewed within this particular historical framework. At this time 
Euripides is equally distant from both the extreme oligarchs and 
the democrats. He expounds a political ideal with conscious anti­
democratic implications. 32 The aristocrats have betrayed their 
own ethics of measure and moderation. An echo, however, of 
the old view persists also in the Phrygian'S sketch of Pylades as 
the true aristocratic cptA.6c; (1405f): 1tto'toe; ()E cpiMne;' 8paoue; de; 
«lA,KaV, ~'\}v£'toe; 1tOA,£~O'\), cpOVtOe; 't£ ()paKOOV. It is particularly 
significant that in a description with an archaic flavor, the 
adjective ~'\}v£'toe; indicates one of the elements of cptA,La. 33 

Thus despite exceptional usage in Euripides, it seems clear that 
synetos is traditionally identified with a social group. As an alter-

31 V. Di Benedetto, Euripides, Orestes [Florence 1965] 209): -Nell' Oreste i 
contadini sono visti soprattutto in termini di contrapposizione ai demogoghi." 
The old man who reports the debate and who shows £uv01av towards 
Orestes and Electra also comes from the countryside (866£f). Though a 
peasant, he is y£vva'iov in xplia9at ... cpiA.o~. Synetos thus does not convey here 
an intellectual quality, but rather a particular political and ethical outlook. 
Euripides implies that although synesis cannot be attributed on the basis of 
class, the man who is synetos acts in accordance with a particular code of 
political behavior. This political connotation can also be perceived in 
Tyndareus' reproach to Orestes for being a(J'\)vt'tcO't£po~. because Orestes 
despises the right and the Greek lCO\vOV vOJ!ov (491-95). Since Tyndareus 
measures an act of unjustice in terms of lack of syne sis, such a statement 
cannot be in any sense a simple assertion of foolishness; synesis then must be 
linked to a specific political and social ethic (ef Phoin. 1726£, OUX orX! AllCa 
lCalCou~. OU~· aJ!d~£'tat PpmIDV aO'uvtO'ia~; and fr.645.4f N.: il tapa 9VTI'tIDV 
dO'tv aO'uvt'tcO't£POt il 'ta1t\£tlCti 1tpOa9tV i1ycruv'ta t ~i1CTl~). 

32 Cf Di Benedetto (supra n.31) 208f. 
l) Cf n.23 supra. 



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DANIELA BATTISTI 13 

native to words like 1(aAOC;, aya9oc;, CPtAOC;,34 it expresses a 
specific characteristic of 'intelligence', or more precisely an 
'ethical intelligence'. The historical origins of this sense of 
synetos lie in the archaic period and reflect the political crisis of 
the aristocrats. Its hegemony reduced in folitical terms, the aris­
tocracy proclaims its superiority in mora and intellectual terms, 
as Theognis and later Pin dar testify. Synetos asserts the identity 
of social aristocracy and aristocracy of the intellect: class 
identity is expressed in terms of sharing the same intellectual 
experience. 35 The word thus marks semantic intersection of 
two categories that are not necessarily related but are thought to 
be: mental and moral attitude and membership in a social class. 36 

The aristocracy employs its cultural prerogatives to confirm 
the exclusiveness of its 'intelligence'. If one accepts that native 
intelligence can be improved upon by a specific educational 
process, it is no surprise that aristocrats, who alone had this 
privilege, could with reason call themselves the synetoi. Educa­
tion takes on a symbolic value, becoming a social 'sign', a status 

34 In Plato too the old aristocratic connotation of synesis is still alive. In the 
category of 'to. leaAa QVOlla'ta (Cra. 411A-12c), synesis is closely linked to the 
aristocrats' ethical virtues. Socrates assembles under 'to. leaAa Qvolla'ta words 
such as apE'tTt, OUVEC:J1.<;, SlleatOOUVTIo -and all the others of the same kind" that 
are opposed to the <pUUAoV YEVOr, QVOIl(l'tcov. This opposition leaAOV - <pUUAoV 
YEVOr, is quite remarkable, particularly because Socrates, in the course of his 
analysis, adds to the list Ocoq>poaUVll, ayaeov, and oocpta. What makes these 
words leaAa is their coded representation of the aristocratic claim. Plato 
specifies, intentionally or unintentionally, a word field: a leaAOV YEVO<" that 
gathers linguistic stereotypes, semata of a social stereotype. On Plato's attitude 
towards the aristocratic ethical view cf. Rose (supra n.27) 96£: -The ethical 
values and 'skills' with which Plato's pupils were to be indoctrinated have the 
same names as the old heroic virtue celebrated in Pindar .... " 

35 Cf. Donlan 127ff, 153, 155--77. 
36 Pindar provides a good example, equating the readmission of the exiled 

Damophilus into the social fabric with his participation in the banquet by 
playing the lyre (Pyth. 4.295f): tV 'tE oocpo'i<" SatSaAiav cp6Pluyya ~ao'tat;cov 
1toAhat<" i}OUXt~ 81yEIlEV. This equivalence of the acquisition of his right place 
in the society and the performance of a poetic sophia gives a special value to 
the latter, as if it were a class attribute. Cf. Ar. Frogs 727-30: 'tIDV 1tOAt'tIDV e' 
aU; IlEv iOIlEV EUYEvE'ir, leal. orocppova<" nvSpar, ov'ta<" leal. Sl1ClltOUr, leal 
leaAou<" 'tE lCaya9ou<" leal. 'tpacpEv'ta<" tv 1taA.ato'tpatr, leal. xopo'i<" leal. 1l0U­
ouen. Cf. Connor (supra n.23) 190-93 for the interpretation of these verses. 0 n 
the significance of the banquet see D. B. Levine, - Symposium and the Polis," 
in Figueira and Nagy (supra n.13) 176-96. Cf. Il. 9.186, CPPEva'tEp7tOJ.LEVOV 
cp6Plltyyt AlytiU; 189, 'tU 0 yE SuIlOV t'tEP1tEV, nElSE ~' apa leAEa avSpIDv, 
where Achilles, the perfect young aristocrat, plays the phorminx. 



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symbol, signifying membership in a selected group and opposi­
tion to those outside it; and synetos emphasizes this privileged 
cultural 'skill'. By the time of Aristophanes, this status is 
threatened by a new form of synesis-the new education 
offered by the sophists. 37 The evidence of the Frogs might lead 
one to believe that the older synesis had disappeared. On the 
contrary, it persisted through the period of the Peloponnesian 
War, as the following discussion will show. 

II. Thucydides 

Thucydides often employs synesis and synetos to refer to 
political and strategic intelligence strictly relating to a knowledge 
of possible consequences and future events. 38 Elsewhere 
synesis is applied to quite different peorle and situations; but an 
analysis of the context in each case wil indicate when and how 
it is used according to the aristocratic code.39 

The aristocratic background of the word is clearly evident in 
the Sicilian demagogue Athenagoras' defense of democracy 
against certain unnamed opponents (6.39.tf): "There are people 
who will say that democracy is neither an intelligent (~,\)vE't6v) 
nor a fair (i(Jov) system, and that those who have the money are 
also the best rulers. But I say, first, that what is meant by the 
demos, or people, is the whole (~UJ.l7t(lv) State, whereas an 
oligarchy is only a section of the State; and I say next that 
though the rich are the best people for looking after money, the 
best counsellors are the intelligent ('toue; ~,\)VE'tOUe;), and that it is 
the many ('toue; 7to,,",,"oue;) who are the best at listening to the 
different arguments and judging between them. And all alike, 
whether taken all together or as a separate class, have equal 
rights in a democracy."4o 

37 Cf. Rose (supra n.27) 8Mf, esp. 87f: -Rather than attacking the pretensions 
of the aristocrats, they chose to set them in a new context which stressed the 
need for the noble physis to be supplemented by paideia." 

38 Cf. L. Edmunds, -Thucydides' Ethics as Reflected in the Description of 
Stasis (3.82-83)," HSCP 79 (1975) 73-92 at 80ff with n.22 for bibliography. 

39 Cf. P. Huart, Le vocabuiaire de l'analyse psychologique dans l'oeuvye de 
Thucydide (Paris 1968) 279-90. The only two examples of the word's use for a 
practical skill are at 1.84.3, 142.8. 

40 R. Warner, tr., Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War (Har­
mondsworth 1954) 435f. All quotations are from this translation. 



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The criticism of democracy at the beginning of this passage 
can only come from aristocratic circles, where those who rule 
are the 'rich' or the 'intelligent': for there is no longer a sharp 
distinction between two groups, which are considered-as 
already in Pindar-as an unicum. 41 Democracy is not ~,\)vE'[6v, 
because those who rule are neither 'intelligent' nor 'rich'. 
Athenagoras, in his effort to demonstrate the advantages of 
democracy,42 reports an argument of its opponents in which 
'intelligence' hints at their code of values.43 Ot 1tOAAot, who have 
the last and decisive word in democracy, lack intelligence, for 
they lack that kind of education and culture of which synesis is 
the result. 44 Democracy cannot offer synesis in principle, since 
its constitutional form denies the predominance of those who 
are synetoi; it is in fact opposed to their interests and their 
values.45 The political implication of the adjective ~,\)vE'[6v is 
clear. 46 

These examples show that synetos is not a simple adjective 
referring to mental ability; Athenagoras appropriates the term 
for Ot 1tOAA.ol in a clear criticism of the aristocratic code. There 
are, however, cases in which the word is used with less obvious 
implications. 

41 Figueira (supra n.7: esp. 450-56) considers such a distinction based on 
wealth and inherited status within the system of the nine archons at Athens. 

42 Donlan emphasizes (142) the "'weakness of the Sicilian's rebuttal of this 
doctrine"; cf. his n.38: "'Nor, as a matter of fact, does he refute the claim to 
superiority based on the wisdom of the upper class-the many are implicitly 
contrasted with the wise counsellors, their role is merely to listen and to vote." 

43 In a different historical context Demodocus of Mytilene comments (fr.1 
GentililPrato): "'The Mytilenians are not a;uvE'tol but they act as if they were 
such" (opoocJtv o· ota It£p a;uv£'t01.). In other fragments he employs vocabulary 
typical of the aristocratic code: lCalCol UV€pE~ (frA), X'iOl lCUlCOl (fr.3) and KUlt­
ltUOOlCat cpaUMH ... lCtpOoU~ o· EtVElCa cpauAO'ta'tOl (fr.6). 

44 Alcibiades defines the political and social structure in terms of intellectual 
shrewdness, stating (6.18.6) that a polis needs three kinds of people in order to 
obtain the greatest strength and safety: "'the inferior types, the middle types, 
the profoundly calculating types" ('to 't£ cpauAov, 'to ~(Jov, 'to MVu alCpl~t~). 

45 At the end of the speech, Athenagoras invites the demos not to appear 
a;Uvt'tID'ta'tol (6.40.1): almost an exhortation to the demos to avoid looking 
more "'foolish" than the aristocrats think it already does. 

4b An explicit correspondence between intelligence and the reward of power 
in Aesop Fab. 109 Hausrath-Hunger: Zeus gives the fox 'to ~(J\A.ElOV over 'troY 
uAOyOlv ~cpOlV because he loved 'to (JUVE'tOV 'troY cpptvOlv lCal 'to ltOllC1AoV of the 
fox. 



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16 IYNETOI AS ARISTOCRATIC SELF-DESCRIPTION 

In attacking the critics of his decision on Mytilene (3.37.3), 
Cleon opposes the cpaUMYtEpOt to the ~UVE'tclYtEPOt. The former, 
as he explains, are more clever at administering the polis, while 
the ~,\)VE'tfirtEPOt want to appear wiser than the law. The cpa'\)­
A,<YtEPOt are less confident in their ~UVEO'tC; and are indeed unedu­
cated, but they preserve an ignorant prudence (aJ,1a9ia J,1E'tel 
O'roCPPoO'uvTlC;) and are quicker to admit to being less wise than 
the laws (aJ,1a6EO''tEpOt). In this case the "more intelligent» are 
his very opponents. Cleon ends (3.37.5) by saying that speakers 
before the assembly should not be motivated by "intelligent 
shrewdness» and "competition for intelligence» (synesis).47 
Synetoi are characterized by a particular intellectual conceit be­
cause of their education, and this conceit moulds their political 
behavior.48 

Cleon's use of synetos can be elucidated by comparison with 
Archidamus' speech at 1.84.3: "And we are wise (EiS~OUA,Ol) 
because we are not so highly educated (1tatOEuOJ,1EVOt) as to look 
down upon our laws and customs, and are too rigorously 
trained in self-control (O'roCPPOVEO''tEPOV) to be able to disobey 
them. We are trained to avoid being too clever (~,\)vE'toi liyav) 
in matters that are of no use ('tel axpEia )-such as being able to 
produce an excellent reasoning about one's enemies' disposi­
tions, and then failing in practice (EPYep) to do quite well against 
them.» Cleon exploits a connection between too much edu­
cation and disregard for laws. Both Cleon and Archidamus 
express the same proud disdain for too much synesis; both 
identify synesis with an intellectual cleverness pursued with 
rhetorical, hence political, skill. Cleon seems to allude to a com­
petition among demagogues to gain the demos' favor by using 
the subtle art of persuasion; Archidamus, in his opposition of 
A,oyOC; to EPYOV, ironically hints that such competition is the 
basic element of democracy. There is, however, an important 
difference between their views. While Cleon attacks the 
synetoi in toto, Archidamus is critical of those synetoi who do 
not apply their intelligence in an effective way. His criticism is 
less radical than Cleon's. For him, therefore, synesis is cir­
cumstantially negative but not objectionable as a whole. 

47 On the anti-intellectualism of Cleon's words cf. Connor (supra n.23) 95, 
167f. 

48 Cf. 4.10.1, where ~'\)V£'t6c; implies moderate reasoning. 



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The context of the speech is the debate at Sparta of 432, where 
Archidamus is responding to the Athenians' accusations. The 
Athenian delegation, reminding the audience of their achieve­
ments during the Persian War, and in particular at Salamis, 
boasts that they provided the CJ'tpa'tTl'YoC; ~,\)v£'tc.O'ta'toc;, Themis­
toc1es (1.74.1). In the same context, the Athenians are proud of 
their synesis (1.75.1) because of their successful intervention 
against the Persians. 49 This Athenian praise implies that the 
Spartan audience would not have considered synesis a totally 
negative quality. Synesis here is an important element of their 
strategy of persuasion. 50 But having synesis in Sparta must be 
different from having synesis in Athens, in quality and in use. 
The Spartans and the Athenians share a word but not the value 
it implies. 

Archidamus' speech illustrates what a synetos should not be, 
but we still lack a positive dehntion of the term. If we compare 

49 Here synesis is associated with gnome. Cf. L. Edmunds, Chance and In­
telligence in Thucydides (Cambridge [Mass.] 1975) 9f. 

50 As C. Perelman has shown (L 'empire rhetorique. Rhetorique et argu­
mentation [Paris 1977] 35-45), the goal of the argumentation is not to prove 
the truth of the conclusions by means of the premises, but rather to transfer to 
the conclusions the agreement already obtained in the premises. The common 
premise here is, of course, synesis. A counterpart to this rhetorical use of 
synesis is offered after the Athenian success at Pylos in 425: • And do not 
listen [Athenians] to what we have to say in a hostile spirit or imagine that we 
think you are ignorant and are trying to lecture you" (4.17.3, 1.1110' cO~ a.~uv£'tot 
~h&x<Jxol.1£vol). The Spartans must persuade the Athenians to return their men. 
Therefore, probably against their will, they grant them synesis. It is significant 
that the Spartans assume a link between being axynetoi and the need of being 
taught. Evidently there is still an explicit connection between synesis and 
education. Perhars the Spartans are here saying one thing and implying 
something else. I the Athenians want to boast of synesis, they should try to 
please them. Nevertheless this does not exclude that they think that the 
Athenians' synesis is something different. In fact at 6.76.4 the Spartans, 
defining the Athenian empire, say: o£<J1to'tou ... oux a.~UV£'trotEpOU, X(lXO­
~UVE'trotEPOU OE. The Athenian power does not lack intelligence, but has a bad 
kind of intelligence. The Spartans grant synesis to the Athenian policy but it is 
the ethical referent of the word which is different. An analogous case of 
persuasion occurs at 4.85.6: Brasidas reproaches the Acanthians for having 
failed to welcome the Spartans into the town, even though 1tOAlV a.~1.()Xp£rov 
1t(lp£XO~vou<; xat ~UVE<JtV Ooxouv'ta<; £X£tv. Brasidas emphasizes synesis as the 
common virtue by which the Acanthians should allow them to enter their 
city. Brasidas, in a sort of captatio benevolentiae, recognizes the • intelligence" 
of his audience. His rhetorical strategy is complex. Thucydides remarks ~v oE 
01>0£ a.OUV(l'to~, cO~ A(lX£OatI.10VlO~, d1t£iv (4.84.2). 



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the accusation against democracy in Athenagoras' sreech with 
Cleon's connection between the positive value 0 a lack of 
synesis and lack of education (a~(lei(l. a~(le£au~pot), it be­
comes clear that Cleon implicitly endows the term with its 
traditional aristocratic meaning. 51 In these contexts, the word 
indicates the way in which individuals or groups positioned 
themselves within the polis or in relation to the decisions that 
had to be made in the polis. In a changing cultural and political 
background, the word is a relic of a specific way of thinking and 
of representing the world. The synetoi are a social group with 
precise cethical' views, and the word still recalls the aristocratic 
code of values. Archidamus, therefore, must be thinking about 
this type of synetoi as the object of Cleon's attack. What looked 
like an intriguing agreement between two different personalities 
is actually an artfully conceived interplay of different attitudes. 

Pericles offers another paradoxical use of the word showing 
how it preserves its traditional meaning: «And when the 
chances on both sides are equal, it is intelligence (it ~uvEalC;) that 
confirms courage ('tTtv 't6A~(lv)-the intelligence that makes 
one able to look down on one's opponent" (2.62.5, cf. 65.1). 
Elsewhere in Thucydides, however, 't6A~a can be a vice 
(3.82.4).52 Snell has shown that synesis is opposed by Pindar to 
't6A~(l. 53 But in Pericles' words, synesis is not only associated 
with 't6A~a but is its source. This apparent contradiction may 
be explained by the particular moment at which the speech 
takes place. Pericles in fact gives this speech after the plague, 
when he is trying to reconcile himself with, and to encourage, 
the demos. All his language is paradoxical, showing the rhe­
torical mechanism of strong effects and emotions. Pericles is 
intentionally changing the meaning of the word. This change 
involves the dissolution of an opposition: the association of 
these two antithetical words produces an oxymoron, an intel­
lectual paradox that goes beyond the communis opinio and 

51 Donlan (148f) sees in Cleon's words an attempt to show that the demos 
is actually the repository • of the qualities claimed by the upper class. " 

52 Cf. Edmunds (supra n.38) 7(r79. 
53 Nem. 7.60; fr.231; Snell (supra n.9) 55; cf Thuc. 6.36.1, where Athenagoras 

establishes the opposition al;;uvtoUx - 'tOA....,a. Cf also Eur. fr.552.1£ N.: nO'ttpa 
y£vi06al ail'ta XPTlO\~On£pov o'Uv£'tov l:i'toA.~oV 11 8paoUv 't£ lCaJ.La8f1. 'toA.~a is 
contrasted with oCO<pPOaUVTl in Thucydides: see Edmunds (supra n.38) 80 n.22. 



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probably Pericles' too. 54 Pericles thus knows the ethical impli­
cations of synesis. In spite of this awareness, he credits demo­
cratic Athens, as did the Athenians at Sparta, with a virtue that 
seems by definition to be aristocratic. 

In all the Thucydidean cases so far considered, the word 
appears in speeches, where speakers may give different mean­
ings to the same term. 55 There are, however, cases in which 
Thucydides himself uses the word. He attributes the quality of 
synesis to a group of historical characters, some of whom, 
apparently, have little in common: Archidamus (1.79.2), 
Hermocrates (6.72.2), Brasidas (4.81.2), Theseus (2.15.2), the 
Pisistratids (6.54.5), Phrynichus (8.27.5), the oligarchs of the 400 
(8.68.4). The first three characters, however, are related to one 
another by their common 'Spartan' roots. 56 Archidamus is the 
king of Sparta, Kat ~,\)VEt~ ... Kat CJrocpprov (1.79.2): he is not only 
intelligent but also moderate. Such an association, at least here, 
equates synesis with a quality typical of a conservative and 
traditional way of thinking: CJroCPPoCJUV". 57 The plain sense of 
'intelligence', then, is extended by the additional nuance of a 

54 The rhetorical figure of paradox is typical of the acutum dicendi genus. 
This kind of speech uses all those rhetorical means which produce an 
intellectual confusion. A speaker who uses this kind of figure must believe that 
the audience is intelligent (synetos) enough to grasp the difference between 
the paradox and the common meaning; otherwise there is no such effect. 
Pericles' paradox is complex: he must keep the demos asynetos, unaware of 
the intellectual joke, in order to reach persuasion. But in spite of that, he and a 
part of his audience as well had to be accomplices to this rhetorical deceit. Cf. 
H. Lausberg, Handbuch der literarischen Rhetorik (Munich 1960) §64.3ff. 

55 Very often Thucydides makes different characters reuse the same words 
with a different meaning, alluding to these possible different senses. His style 
is not simply an impartial historical narration but a rhetorical construction in 
which different characters speak the same language and use the same judg­
ments with a different value. An example is Athenagoras, who blames the 
a1;uv£(JUx of those who, like Hermocrates, oppose Athens (6.35.1), while 
Hermocrates is synetos for Thucydides (6.72.2). Cf. also G. Caiani, -Nicia e 
Alcibiade. Il dibattito sull' &pm aUe soglie della spedizione in Sicilia. Analisi 
lessicale di Thuc. VI 9-18," StIt 44 (1972) 145-83. 

5' On Thucydides' attitude towards the Spartan manner and his praise of 
its moderation c/. L. Strauss, The City and Man (Chicago 1964) esp. 145-54; 
but see W. R. Connor, Thucydides (Princeton 1984) esp. 36-51, 126-40, 176-
80, 231-42, for his more complex and controversial disposition towards the 
characters and their political views. 

57 The Spartans imply that £u~uvt'tcO't£pov can be shown only by those who 
are already sophrones: 4.18.4. 



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conservative virtue. It is not by chance that such a combination 
occurs in a Spartan who is politically conservative. 58 Thucydides 
believes that Brasidas' apEnt Kat ~UVEOl<; (4.81.2) were the main 
cause of a pro-Spartan feeling among the Athenian allies after 
the Sicilian expedition. Thucydides also states that it was his 
reputation for being aya80<; that allowed him to gain good will 
Ka'tu 7t(lv'ta (81.3). The adverb specifies that Brasidas' popular­
ity also won over many who were against Sparta. His synesis, 
therefore, is a quality widely admired. 

The Syracusan Hermocrates is said to be avTtP Kat £<; 'tfiAAa 
~UVE(nV ou(5EVO<; AEtXO)lEVO<; (6.72.2). Thucydides has this 
strong opponent of Athens express his hostility in terms of 
racial and cultural difference. Explaining his distrust of the 
Athenian manoeuvres, he draws attention to the Syracusans' 
distance from those who had accepted Athenian rule with the 
statement, ~roptl1<; £AEU8EPOt ax' au'tovo)lo'U 't11<; IIEAoxov­
vTtoo'U 'tTtV LtKEAtaV OlKOUV'tE<; (6.77.1). This refusal of possible 
Athenian control is expressed not only in political terms, but 
also with a strong assertion of a kinship that lies rather with the 
Dorians. 

If in these three cases, we allow to 'Spartan' not just a 
geographical or racial definition, but also an ethical and political 
emphasis, we may link to these examples several further 
characters. Phrynichus is the commander of the Athenian fleet 
during the year of the Persian intervention in 411. Thucydides 
praises Phrynichus as synetos, reporting his decision not to 
confront the Peloponnesian fleet during a military operation 
against Miletus: OUK E<; 'tOU'to Jlovov. aAAa Kat E<; ooa CiAAa 
<l>PUVtXO<; Ka'tEo'tl1. OUK a~UVE'to<; dvat (8.27.5). Phrynichus' 
case might seem contradictory in that he is a general of 
democratic Athens. But although the reference here is to his 
particular strategic ability, Thucydides specifies that his synesis 
is not limited to his strategy. All the other references to Phry­
nichus are to his oligarchic political involvement: the phrase £c; 
ooa aAAa <I>PUVtxo<; Ka'tEo'tl1 must refer to political offices he 
might have held. 59 Phrynichus is OUK a~uvE'to<; because of his 

58 Cf Edmunds (supra n.38) 80. 
59 Thucydides' further information on Phrynichus is in fact concentrated on 

his part in the oligarchic coup of 411: b cl>pi>VtXO~ £u'U'tov nav'tIDv lhu<pEp6v­
'tID~ np08'U~6'tu'tov E~ 'tTtV OA.tyuPXiuv (8.68.3). Emphasizing Phrynichus' faith 



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DANIELA BATTISTI 21 

en thusiastic adherence to the oligarchy. The use of 01)1( a~uvE­
'to~ implies the system of values of which Phrynichus' choice is 
almost an inevitable result. Consequently, Phrynichus is close 
to Archidamus, Brasidas, and Hermocrates, and synetos as ap­
plied to him does have a traditional and conservative nuance. 

An analogous usage appears in the case of the 400. Thucydides 
addresses the oligarchs of 411, those men who deprived the 
Athenian people of their freedom one hundred years after the 
expulsion of the tyrants, as tlvoprov 1tOAArov Kat ~,\)VE't&V 
(8.68.4). Synetos here is virtually synonymous with 'oligarch', 
describing those who act according to a conservative bias. 60 

The traditional meanings of synesis and synetos are seen also 
in two other examples. First, though the Pisistratids are 
'tupavvot, Thucydides believes they had synesis, for 'tel bE &./ .. :Aa 
alnll i11t6At~ 'tOl~ 1tpiv lenJ,1£VOt~ v6JlOt~ EXPll'to, 1tAllv leaS' ooov 
atd 'ttva E1tEJ,1EA.oV'tO o<prov au'trov EV 'ta'i~ apxa'i~ dvat (6.54.6). 
Their personal power was not a traditional aristocratic or oligar­
chic form of government; that they left the laws of the polis 
unchanged clearly defines the nature of their govern men t as 
traditionally moderate. 

Second, in explaining the early political organization of Attica, 
Thucydides attributes to Theseus the unification of the separate 
councils and governments of small cities into the central 
government in Athens. In this decisive action, Theseus proved 
to be both synetos and powerful: 'YEv6J,1EVO~ J,1E'tcl 'tou ~,\)VE'tOU 
leat b'\)va't6~ (2.15.2). It is unlikely that these are casual attri­
butes. Theseus was a prominent figure in oligarchic propaganda, 
used in opposition to Heracles, who had been associated 

in oligarchy, Thucydides adds that once he had joined this movement, he was 
1tpO~ 'to: OEtva ... <PEPty'YUcl:l't(l'tO~, "the most dependable" (68.3). In 8.90.1 
Phrynichus is among the leaders of the 400, who were particularly opposed to 
democracy: oi OE 'troY 'tE'tpmCOOtcov ~aA.lo'ta evav'ttOl OV'tE~ 't<!> 'totm)'t(!> dOEt 
(i.e. democracy) Kat 1tpOEO'tro'tE~ <l>puvtx6~ 'tEo 

60 On this point the account in Ath.Pol. is close to Thucydides'. In this ver­
sion Peisander, Antiphon, and Theramenes are called avoprov Kat 'YtyEVT\­
~ivcov E-O Kat OUV£OEt Kat yvro~n OOKOUV'tCOV Ota<pipEtv (32.2). In Ath.Pol 
synesis is thus associated with 'good birth'. Phrynichus' name is not on this 
list, but P. J. Rhodes (A Commentary on the Aristotelian Athenaion Politeia 
[Oxford 1981] ad loc.) believes that the omission is due to a copyist's error. 



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iconographically with Pisistratus. 61 It has been argued that the 
festival of the Synoikia, which Thucydides subsequently men­
tions as instituted after this reorganization, has "an aristocratic 
appearance. "62 Theseus may have been called synetos not 
simply because of the foresight of his decision, but also to 
evoke the aristocratic association of his mythological persona. 

In these examples, it may be argued that synesis and synetos 
are in fact consistent with the ethical outlook of these in­
dividuals. 63 Only two other synetoi are apparently remote from 
this group: Themistocles and Pericles. 

At 1.138.2f Thucydides enthusiastically attributes synesis to 
Themistocles. This synesis is political ability wedded to an acute 
foresight. The most admirable (li~lOC; SauJ.ulo(u) aspect of 
Themistocles' synesis is its unlearned character (Oi.KEi~ yap 
~UVEOEl Kat OU'tE 1tpoJlaSffiv EC; au'tTtv OUOEV OU't' E1tlJlaSffiv). 
Unlike Cleon, who had generally asserted that the a~uvE'tffi'tEpOl 
were uneducated, Thucydides finds in Themistocles an instance 
of an uncultivated synetos. Still, he does not so much contradict 
Cleon's point as strengthen it, emphasizing the paradoxical 
nature of this characteristic. Themistocles is not the scion of an 
aristocratic family. Although he was not given an aristocratic 
upbringing and did not receive the education that produces 
synesis, he was nevertheless synetos. Themistocles is the ex­
ception to the rule. 

Thucydides also refers to Pericles as synetos, describing him 
as someone chosen by the city who av yYc.OJlTI 'tE oo1Cfi JlTt 
a~uvE'toc; dval Kat &~lc.OOEl 1tpoilx:n (2.34.6). 2.65 is dedicated to 
praising his 1tpOVOla ... EC; 'tOY 1tOA.EJlov. 1tpOVOla, understood as 
strategic intelligence and sharp foresight, is a quality equivalent 
to synesis. It has been argued elsewhere that Thucydides' appre­
ciation of Pericles has a quite strong aristocratic bias. Notwith-

61 J. Boardman, -Herakles, Peisistratos, and Sons," RA (1972) 57-72, and 
-Herakles, Peisistratos and Eleusis," IHS 95 (1975) 1-12; K. Schefold, 
-Kleisthenes," MusHelv 3 (1946) 59-93. 

62 Figueira (supra n.7) 465f. 
63 In all these examples the traditional value of the word is also preserved be­

cause of the aristocratic birth of the characters. In the case of the Pisistratids 
cf. [pl.] Hipparch. 228c. 



BATTISTI, DANIELA, "Synetos" [Greek] as Aristocratic Self-Description , Greek, Roman and 
Byzantine Studies, 31:1 (1990:Spring) p.5 

DANIELA BATTISTI 23 

standing his leadership of the democracy, Pericles is synetos, 
for his ethos is aristocratic.64 

In addition to these examples, Thucydides uses the word 
~UVE(Jt~/~UVE't6~ three times in the description of stasis (3.82f). 
At 3.83.3f he distinguishes two separate categories of behavior: 

As a rule those who were least remarkable for intelligence 
(<p(x'uJ...on:po\.) showed the greater power of survival. Such people 
recognized their own deficiencies and the superior intelligence (to 
SUv E'tOV) of their opponents; fearing that they might lose a 
debate or find themselves out-manoeuvred in intrigue by their 
quick-witted enemies, they boldly launched straight into action; 
while their opponents, over-confident in the belief that they 
would see what was happening in advance (lC(l't(l<PpOVOUV'tE~), and 
not thinking it necessary to seize by force what they could 
secure by policy, were the more easily destroyed because they 
were off their guard. 

The coincidence of lCU'tUCPPOVOUV'tE<; and those who have 'to 

~uvE't6v is evident. A scholiast at 3.83.4 explains ot. lCU'tU­

CPpOVOUV'tE~ as "those who seemed to be (JUVE'tOl and were 
confident they would prevail with the help of their shrewdness, 
without need of force, where they could succeed by skill, were 

64 On the particular nature of Thucydides' admiration for Pericles cf. L. 
Edmunds and R. Martin, -Thucydides 2.65.8: EAEY8EPQI," HSCP 81 (1977) 
187-93, who argue that Thucydides' praise of Pericles should not be equated 
with his possible conversion to democracy. Rather, Pericles' rule must be 
regarded as the aristocratic side of the Athenian constitution. The other 
ancient author who mentions Pericles' synesis is Demosthenes (Erot. 2), who 
says that Pericles exceeded in synesis all people of his age, having gained it at 
the school of Anaxagoras of Clazomenae. This last example clearly shows an 
ideological evolution in the interpretation of the word. Demosthenes makes 
synesis no longer an inherited aristocratic virtue, but something more 
'democratic' that can be taught. Cf this 'sophistic' tendency at Erot. 1: -The 
writer wishes to praise Ephicrates who was according to his judgment the 
most fascinating among 1toU .. rov Kat. KaArov Kat. aya9rov ov'twv v£wv, 
surpassing all the people of his age more in o'Uv£OEl than in the beauty of his 
body." The synesis of this KaAb<; Kaya96<; must come from schooling as distin­
guished from aristocratic acculturation. Thucydides is aware of the sophistic 
character of Pericles' intelligence (cf. Edmunds [supra n.49] 13£). But if synesis 
is no longer a prerogative of an aristocratic education, it still signifies a 
political attitude of moderation and prudence typical of the conservative 
approach more common among aristocrats or oligarchs. For Demosthenes, 
instead, synesis does not have any strict connotation of class, since it can be 
acquired by anyone at school. ct. n.27 supra. 



BATTISTI, DANIELA, "Synetos" [Greek] as Aristocratic Self-Description , Greek, Roman and 
Byzantine Studies, 31:1 (1990:Spring) p.5 

24 IYNETOI AS ARISTOCRATIC SELF-DESCRIPTION 

destroyed defenseless." Since Thucydides is generalizing we 
cannot say whether these were oligarchs. But he does state a 
political attitude in terms of "intelligence," which marks a 
particular praxis. The general tone of the narrative does not hint 
at an ironic awareness of the class valence of the term but rather 
at the confusion of language created by stasis. 

In spite of their positive original meaning, synesis and synetos 
can also be used with other associations, producing an ethical 
equivocation. A clear example occurs at 3.83.7. Thucydides 
declares that "a victory won by treachery gave one a ti tie for 
superior intelligence. And indeed most people are more ready 
to call villainy cleverness than simple-mindedness honesty." In 
the same context, at 3.82.5, the man who succeeds by plotting 
(EXl.~O'UA.£{)(JCl<;; bE n<;; 't'UXc.Ov) is synetos. The change in the 
customary vocabulary of praise and blame has modified the 
semantic value of the word. At 3.82.4, 'to xpo<;; axClv ~'Uv£'tov is 
a positive quality that then becomes a vice: "one totally unfitted 
for action" (EXt xav apyov). Thucydides seems to distinguish 
between those who are really synetoi and those who confuse 
synesis with low cunning. This semantic ambiguity is a product 
of connotative variation. Like other words, synesis no longer 
retains its old-fashioned ethical implications. 65 

Thus it is quite evident that synetos in Thucydides does not 
always have a neutral connotation, but may in fact be regarded 
as another catchword for conservative factions in Athens. 66 

Nonetheless it remains difficult to ascertain whether Thucydi­
des' usage implies his own ideological assent to the aristocratic 
flavor of synetos in his characters' use of the term. It is clear, 
however, that in general synetos retains a particular ideological 
sense in very different historical periods. Propaganda is often 
expressed through catchwords. Synetos is one of these, convey­
ing the self-representation of a particular group. Its special 

65 J. T. Hogan, "The a~iCl)O'tC; of Words at Thucydides 3.82.4," GRBS 21 
(1980) 139-49, argues that stasis entails a semantic revolution in the system of 
values. The traditional vocabulary of praise and blame is used with a different 
connotation; the terminology is the same but the categories of judgment are 
transformed. ct. also N. Loraux, '"Thucydide et la sedition dans les mots," 
QuadStor 23 (1986) 105, 114. 

66 Cf. A. J. Graham and G. Forsythe, "A New Slogan for Oligarchy in 
Thucydides III.82.8," HSCP 88 (1984) 25-45, on npottlltlO'et. 



BATTISTI, DANIELA, "Synetos" [Greek] as Aristocratic Self-Description , Greek, Roman and 
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DANIELA BATTISTI 25 

connotatIon survived even among those who were no longer 
authentic aristocrats but still wished to be identified with the 
old group and its values. 67 

RUTGERS. THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW 1ERSEY 

August, 1990 

&7 I am particularly grateful to Lowell Edmunds for his constant help and 
encouragement. I would like to acknowledge also the helpful comments of 
Thomas J. Figueira, Robert Wallace, and the anonymous referee.