Kleisthenes the Stoner: Herodotus 5.67.2

AbstractThis paper explores the term λευστήρ applied to Kleisthenes of Sikyon by the Pythia in Hdt. 5.67.2, first by exploring the poetics of stoning and pollution in Ancient Greece, then by arguing for the validity of both the more predictable meaning, ‘stoner’, and the Suda’s sometimes contested gloss on the word, ‘worthy of being stoned’. While the argument has been suggested before, sufficient linguistic evidence for understanding λευστήρ in this sense has not been presented in the past. The paper provides more conclusive evidence and also suggests that recent applications of the φαρµακός paradigm are inaccurate.