archon (redirected from Thesmothete)

archon

In ancient Greece, the chief magistrate or magistrates in a city-state, from the Archaic period onward. In Athens, nine archons divided state duties: the archon eponymous headed the boule and Ecclesia, the polemarch commanded troops and presided over legal cases involving foreigners, the archon basileus headed state religion and the Areopagus, and the six remaining archons handled various judicial matters. At first only elected aristocrats could serve, and their term was for life; later, terms were limited to a year. Archons were chosen by a combination of election and lot. In the 5th century BC the authority of the archons declined as elected generals assumed most of their powers.

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Archon

In Gnosticism, any of various world-governing powers created with the material world by the Demiurge. Because the Gnostics regarded the material world as evil or as the product of error, Archons were considered forces of evil. Seven or 12 in number, they were identified with the seven planets of antiquity or the 12 signs of the zodiac. They were thought to have imprisoned the divine spark of human souls in material creation. The gnosis sent from the realms of divine light through Jesus enabled Gnostic initiates to pass through the spheres of the Archons into the realms of light.