synoikistes was the mythic and legendary Theseus, who liberated Attica from Cretan hegemony and restored the independence of Greece under the leadership of Athens. In doing so, Theseus effectively consolidated the power of several loosely related minor city-states residing in the country side for himself by eliminating local government which took the form of small city councils and magistracies. According to Thucydides, Theseus founded a new central Prytaneion, an important building with governing administrative duties, in Athens as well as a host of other buildings with both administrative and religious duties in order to create a unified state. Thucydides also attributes Theseus with the "Synoecia" which translates to "Feast of Union." Koen Van Gelder recognizes that modern scholars generally disagree with this traditional foundation of Athens due to a variety of inaccuracies such as when it occurred or whether synoecism was the result of political intentions or cultural ones. The physical records of Attica and Athens have left many elements of the Theseus origin of Athens unreconcilable.Thomas has adduced arguments in support of the unity of the territory of Attica by the end of the Mycenaean period. Although her arguments seem convincing to me, they do not furnish absolute proof of a Bronze Age synoikismos; however, a political unification must have preceded the physical synoikismos at the end of the Bronze Age, or resulted from it, so that, on the threshold of the Iron Age, Athens was the only state in Attica. O. Broneer's reflection on the large quantities of lead found in the Mycenaean fountain on the Acropolis and the Athenian hold of the Laurium must also be taking into consideration. Aristotle In Aristotle's Politics, synoecism was initiated via the community. Communities would come together in order to consolidate power and legalize and enforce these shared notions of what is acceptable and what is not. To Aristotle, synoecism is what drives civilization to form governments. It begins as the union between a man and woman who create a household. Households, in turn, seek out larger networks of other connected households until the community reaches a point at which it can sustain itself in order to facilitate the enforcement of a collective good. The synoecism of Greek individuals into households, towns, and larger communities ensures a level of stability which is afforded to those who participate in the union. It is through the synoecism, according to Aristotle, that the Greeks