Codrus

(Kódros), according to legend, the last king of Attica (ancient Greece); he ruled at the time of the Dorian migration (12th–11th centuries B.c.). After learning of the Delphic oracle’s prophecy that the Dorians would not conquer Attica if the king of Attica died at their hands, Codrus disguised himself as a woodcutter and went to the Dorian camp, where he started a quarrel and was killed. The legend of Codrus, which was probably created after the Greco-Persian wars (fifth century B.C.), was invoked to explain the abolition of kings in Attica; in fact the office was exchanged for that of archon as the result of a prolonged social struggle.