Hippocleides
Hippocleides, the son of Teisander, was an
Athenian nobleman, who served as
Eponymous Archon for the year
566 BC-
565 BC.
During his term as
archon he set up the statue of
Athena Promachos in Athens for the
Panathenaia festival.
As a young man he competed for the hand of
Agariste, the daughter of
Cleisthenes, the
tyrant of
Sicyon. By the end of the competitions, only Hippocleides and
Megacles remained. According to
Herodotus (6.129-130), Hippocleides became intoxicated during a dinner party with Cleisthenes, and began to act like a fool; at one point he stood on his head and kicked his legs in the air, keeping time with the flute music. When Hippocleides was informed that he had "danced away his bride," his response was
ου φροντις 'Ιπποκλειδη, ("Hippocleides doesn't care" or "It doesn't matter to Hippocleides"). The phrase, according to Herodotus, became a common expression in the
Greek world. This claim is interesting, as Herodotus' reference of the phrase is the only extant example from ancient literature.
T.E. Lawrence also had the phrase
ου φροντις inscribed on his doorway.