[yoo-pa-trid, yoo-puh-] 
[yoo-pa-tri-dee] . | one of the hereditary aristocrats of ancient Athens and other states of Greece, who at one time formed the ruling class. |
| eu·pat·rid (yōō-pāt'rĭd, yōō'pə-trĭd) n. pl. eu·pat·ri·dae (-rĭ-dē') or eu·pat·rids A member of the hereditary aristocracy of ancient Athens. [Greek eupatridēs : eu-, eu- + patēr, patr-, father; see pəter- in Indo-European roots + -idēs, patronymic suff.] eu·pat'rid adj. |
eupatridae
(Greek: "of a good father"), member of the nobility of ancient Athens. It is likely that public office before 594 BC was in practice confined to the eupatridae and that they had a political monopoly comparable to that of other Greek aristocracies in the Archaic period. Solon's reforms, by establishing property qualifications for office, limited their power, which disappeared entirely after 580.
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trɪd
r