Kleisthenes reorganized Athenian citizens in 508/7 BCE into ten new tribes (*phylai*) to dilute aristocratic power and ground politics in citizenship rather than lineage.
Each tribe combined one *trittys* (“third”) from the city (*asty*), the coast (*paralia*), and the inland (*mesogeia*), intentionally mixing populations and breaking up local blocs.
The tribes underpinned key institutions: the Assembly, the Council of 500 (50 members per tribe), and the board of ten *strategoi* (one general per tribe).
# The Ten Tribes and Their Eponymous Heroes - **Erechtheis** — hero: *Erechtheus* - **Aigeis** — hero: *Aigeus (Aegeus)* - **Pandionis** — hero: *Pandion* - **Leontis** — hero: *Leos* - **Akamantis** — hero: *Akamas* - **Oineis** — hero: *Oineus* - **Kekropis** — hero: *Kekrops (Cecrops)* - **Hippothontis** — hero: *Hippothon* - **Aiantis** — hero: *Aias (Ajax)* - **Antiochis** — hero: *Antiochos (Antiochus)*
These eponymous heroes were commemorated at the Monument of the Eponymous Heroes in the Athenian Agora, which also served as a public posting place for official notices.
# How the System Worked - **Council of 500 (Boule):** 50 citizens from each tribe, selected annually, managed day-to-day governance and prepared business for the Assembly. - **Military:** 10 *strategoi* (generals), one per tribe, formed the senior command. Regiments and muster lists were organized tribally. - **Civic & Religious:** Tribes functioned as cult groups with shared festivals and sacrifices, strengthening cross-regional identity. - **Juries & Lots:** Many offices were allotted with tribal quotas, distributing participation across the population.
# Why It Mattered By replacing hereditary, clan-based structures with mixed territorial tribes, the reforms curtailed elite dominance, fostered broader participation, and laid the operative framework for classical Athenian democracy.
# See - Phyle (tribe): Primary civic unit for politics, military, and cult. - Trittys (“third”): Subdivision of a region (city/coast/inland) used to build each mixed tribe. - Deme: Local township unit; citizens were enrolled by deme, then grouped by tribe.