Carving of Draco Lawgiver
in the United States Supreme Court.
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Word from Mythology: Draconian
Today's word from mythology is "draconian," which means laws that are especially strict or severe, and more generally it can refer to anything which is extremely severe. The word comes a proper name, Draco, who was the first lawgiver of Athens in the 7th century B.C.E. At the time, the law of Athens was an oral code, and Draco replaced it with a written code. Draco's laws were notoriously harsh and were later repealed by Solon; you can read more about Draco and his laws at Wikipedia.
