CHAPTER II.
THEOGNIS IN OPPOSITION.
From the indistinctness of our knowledge as to the sequence of events in Megara, it is impossible to fix the point of time when Theognis began to be a political plotter; but as, during the whole of his mature life, his party was in opposition, it will be enough to trace the adverse influence of the dominant democracy upon his career till it terminated in exile. We have seen that he was a member of a club composed of exclusive and aristocratic members, meeting ostensibly for feasting and good-fellowship, but really, as their designation "the good"—in a sense already explained—clearly indicated, designed and pledged to cherish the traditions of a constitution to which they were devoted, and which for the time being was suffering eclipse.
Of this club a certain Simonides was president, one Onomacritus a boon-companion, and Cyrnus, to whom are addressed some two-thirds of the extant verses of Theognis a younger member, of whom, politically, the greatest things were expected. Though its soirees seem
