The Day 'Just' Became Dangerous
Aristides, so famously fair he was called 'the Just,' was exiled because strangers were tired of hearing about his virtue.
Too Just for Athens.
Aristides earned his nickname by being scrupulously fair—too fair, perhaps, for the jealous city of Athens. When it was time for ostracism, even his reputation became a liability.
Voting for exile—on a potsherd.
A voter unable to write asked Aristides to scratch his own name on the ballot for exile. The man confessed he’d never met Aristides, but was simply tired of hearing the word 'Just.' Aristides did as asked, and left the city for ten years.
Justice, resented.
This episode summed up classical Athens: too much virtue could be as dangerous as too little, and even the best could be sacrificed to keep the peace. Aristides later returned, as exiles sometimes did—his sense of fairness intact.
At an ostracism vote, a citizen who couldn’t write asked Aristides himself to inscribe his name—admitting he was simply sick of hearing Aristides called 'the Just.' Aristides obliged, quietly marking his own banishment.
