Critias (l. c. 460-403 BCE) was an Athenian politician, poet, and playwright, one of Socrates' followers, Plato's second cousin, a leading member of the Thirty Tyrants of Athens, and leader of the oligarchy they established. He is referenced by other writers as a gifted poet and philosopher but is best known for his ruthlessness as an oligarch of Athens.
His central role in the many abuses of power perpetrated by the Thirty Tyrants overshadowed his earlier achievements as a creative and philosophical influence in Athenian society. Besides his role as one of the Thirty Tyrants, he is also frequently cited as an early atheist who defied the religious conventions of his time. He claimed that the concept of divinity was invented by men who wished to have power over others and so concocted a fable of supernatural beings who would reward or punish behavior in keeping with the agenda of the elite. Professor Thomas Mautner notes that “his is the earliest statement on record that religion is invented by politicians in order to control the people” (116). To Critias, there are no gods or a single God; religion is simply a means whereby the strong and entitled control the weak.
Even so, this charge of atheism is based on a single fragment from one of his plays, placed in the mouth of a character, and since none of the rest of the work remains, it is impossible to know whether this character spoke for the author. Later writers, following the paradigm of Xenophon, who knew Critias, repeated the claim that he was immoral and an atheist, but this cannot finally be ascertained completely. It would certainly seem, however, that people's low opinion of him was justified by his actions during the rule of the Thirty Tyrants. This association with the oligarchy would eventually lead to his death as he was killed in battle in 403 BCE at Piraeus in the conflict which ended their rule.
Early Life & Rise to Power
Critias was born in Athens, the son of Callaeschrus, a philosopher, poet, and politician. Nothing is known of his early life, but it seems that he followed his father's pursuits and achieved a significant level of success. He first enters the historical record in 415 BCE in an incident related to charges of desecrating the statues of Hermes in Athens, but this is a slight reference, which provides little information on why the charges were brought or what Critias was doing at that time. All that is known about the incident is that Critias was cleared of the charges on the testimony of one Andocines.
By 411 BCE, he may have been involved in the political oligarchy known as the Council of the Four Hundred (or, simply, The Four Hundred), an anti-democratic faction that briefly held power in Athens. His participation in this group's efforts is questioned as it is known that he prosecuted one of its leaders, Phrynichus, posthumously in 410 BCE. Although his prosecution of Phrynichus is often interpreted to mean he opposed the Four Hundred, it is just as likely that, after they fell out of favor, Critias sided with the pro-democracy faction when it was clear they were gaining power.
He was a friend and supporter of the general and statesman Alcibiades (l. c. 451 to c.403 BCE) who played a significant and controversial role in the Second Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE). When Alcibiades was charged with desecrating the statues of Hermes and also profaning the Eleusinian Mysteries by drinking the sacred Kykeon at a party, Critias followed him into exile in c. 406 BCE. Critias returned to Athens in 404 BCE to again take up a political position as one of the Five Ephors (magistrates) who led the political factions of the emerging oligarchy, which came to be known as the Thirty Tyrants.
