Archon
Archon (Gr. ἄρχων, pl. ἄρχοντες) is a
Greek word that means "ruler" or the like, though it is frequently encountered as the title of some specific public office. In form the word is simply the masculine present participle of the verb stem αρχ- (meaning "to rule"), derived from the same root that appears in words such as
monarch and
hierarchy.
In the early literary period of
ancient Greece the chief
magistrates of various Greek city states were called
Archons. The term was also used throughout Greek history in a more general sense, ranging from "club leader" to "master of the tables" at
syssitia to "Roman governor".
Archōns ruled by
imperium, whereas
Basileus ("
sovereign") are said to have
auctoritas.
In
Athens a system of three concurrent Archons evolved, the three office holders being known as the
Archon Eponymous, the
Polemarch, and the
Archon Basileus. Originally these offices were filled from the aristocracy by elections every ten years. During this period Archon Eponymous was the chief magistrate, the Polemarch was the head of the armed forces, and the Archon Basileus was responsible for the civic religious arrangements. After
683 BC the offices were held for only a single year, and the year was named after the Archon Eponymous. (Many ancient
calendar systems did not number their years consecutively as we do.) After
487 BC the archonships were assigned by lot to any citizen and the Polemarch's military duties were taken over by a new class of generals known as
strategoi. The Polemarch thereafter had only minor religious duties. The Archon Eponymous remained the titular head of state even under the
democracy, though of much reduced political importance. The Archons were assisted by "junior Archons", called
Thesmothetes. After
457 BC ex-archons were automatically enrolled as life members of the
Areopagus, though that assembly was no longer extremely important politically at that time. (See
Archons of Athens.)
From time to time, laity of the
Orthodox Church in communion with the
Patriarch of Constantinople have been granted the title of
Archon to honor their service to Church administration. In 1963, Archons were organized into a service society dedicated to
Saint Andrew. This
Archon status is not part of the Church hierarchy and is purely honorary. See http://www.archons.org/ .
In late antiquity some variants of
Gnosticism used the term
Archon to refer to several servants of the
Demiurge, the "creator god" that stood between the human race and a transcendent God that could only be reached through gnosis. In this context they have the role of the
angels and
demons of the
Old Testament.
The Egyptian Gnostic
Basilideans accepted the existence of an archon called
Abraxas who was the prince of 365 spiritual beings (
Irenaeus,
Adversus Haereses, I.24). The
Orphics accepted the existence of seven archons:
Iadabaoth or Ialdabaoth (who created the six others),
Iao,
Sabaoth,
Adonaios,
Elaios,
Astaphanos and
Horaios (
Origen,
Contra Celsum, VI.31). The commonly-called
Pistis Sophia (or
The Books of the Savior) gives another set:
Paraplex,
Hekate,
Ariouth (females),
Typhon, and
Iachtanabas (males).
Ialdabaoth had a head of a lion, just like
Mithraic Kronos (
Chronos) and
Vedic Narasimha, a form of
Vishnu. Their wrathful nature was mistaken as
evil. The snake wrapped around them is Ananta (
Sesha)
Naga (mythology).
*The term is used within the
Arab-speaking
Copts in church parlance as a
title for a leading-figure
laity.
*The term now appears fairly frequently as the title of rulers in
English language fiction,
television programs, and games of the
science fiction and
fantasy genres. Examples include the
Outlanders series of science fiction novels and the comic book series,
The Invisibles. It is also a common title in collegiate
fraternity and sorority organizations.
*In the computer game
Starcraft, Archons are large
Protoss creatures who possess psychic abilities and attack using bolts of energy.
*In the
Dungeons & Dragons multiverse,
archons are an
angelic race indigenous to
Mount Celestia.
*In the game Fable,Archon was the ruler of the old kingdom who became corrupted by the sword of Aeons.
*
Amphipoles, archons of Syracuse
*
Auctoritas*
Basileus*
Wrathful deitiesA Greek-English Lexicon (
aka Liddell and Scott), ISBN 0-19-864226-1
The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, ISBN 0-19-866121-5.
*
Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate*
List of Athenian Archons from 500 to 403 BC
