Solon, one of the legendary seven wise men of ancient Greece, was a poet and a lawgiver to his native Athens in the seventh and sixth centuries. He was archōn with special powers in about 590 and instituted reforms to the economy and to the constitution. He provided for the relief of debts (the seisachtheia) and rewrote most of the laws enacted by his predecessor Draco.

Though a model for later reformers, Solons's laws were not an unqualified success, and in 561 a series of disturbances led to the tyranny of Peisistratus (died in 527), who rose to power on the basis of popular support.

Fragments of Solon's poems have come down to us as quotations in later works. We have translated here all the passages relevant to political theory. For a famous anecdote about Solon see Herodotus, 1.

The importance of good government, or eunomia (W 4, lines 1–10, 26–39)