Draconian
Excessively harsh or severe, from Draco, the Athenian lawgiver whose code prescribed death for nearly every offence.
The Meaning of Draconian
In 621 BCE, an Athenian statesman named Draco was appointed to codify the city's laws for the first time. Until then, justice was arbitrary, dispensed by aristocratic judges who interpreted unwritten customs. Draco's written code was a breakthrough in legal transparency, but its penalties were shockingly severe: nearly every offence, from murder to stealing a cabbage, carried the death penalty. When asked why, Draco reportedly said small offences deserved death and he could think of no harsher penalty for greater ones. The Athenian orator Demades later quipped that Draco wrote his laws not in ink but in blood. Within a generation, Solon repealed most of Draco's code, keeping only the homicide laws. The adjective "draconian" entered English to describe any law, rule, or measure that is excessively severe or punitive relative to the offence it addresses — from parking fines to surveillance legislation.
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None recorded
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Fun Fact
Draco's laws were the first written legal code in Athens — a step toward democracy, despite their brutality, because written law limited aristocratic caprice.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
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