Phrynon was born in
Athens before 657 BC. In 636 BC, he won the
stadion or
pentathlon in the Olympic Games (36th
Olympiad). Later, he became a general of Athens. In the period 608–606 BC, a war was conducted by Athens against
Mytilene over control of
Sigeum. Pittacus thus won the war for his homeland. The aristocrat and poet
Alcaeus of Mytilene wrote several poems about this conflict. The Athenian soldiers received the corpse of their general and, withdrawing from Mytilene, carried it back to Athens, where Phrynon was buried with honors.
Herodotus mentions the struggle between Athens and Mytilene in the context of
Peisistratos and does not restrict himself to the time of Peisistratos, but freely goes back to an earlier stage of what he says was a protracted struggle.
Theodore Wade-Gery notes Phrynon as founder of colonies at
Sigeum and
Elaious—instead of
Achilleion by tradition—and accepting the emendation which produces Phrynon's name at Ps.
Skymnos 707f. == References ==