Tradition ascribes to Theseus, whom it also regards as the author of the union (synoecism) of Attica around Athens as a political centre, the division of the Attic population into three classes, Eupatridae, Geomori and Demiurgi.
Philippides of Paiania, son of Philomelos, hailed from Attica nobility and was one of the richest Athenians in the age of Lycurgus of Athens.
Traces of this union of immigrants with older inhabitants have been detected in the combination of Zeus Herkeios with Apollo Patros as the ancient gods of the phratry.
It seems probable that the Eupatridae were the governing class, the only recognized nobility, the Geomori—the country inhabitants of all ranks, and the Demiurgi—the commercial and artisan population.
At this later privilege, which perhaps formed the strongest bulwark of the authority of the Eupatridae, a severe blow was struck (c. 621 BC) by the publication of a criminal code by Draco, which was followed by the more detailed and permanent code of Solon (c. 594 BC), who further threw open the highest offices to any citizen possessed of a certain amount of landed property, thus putting the claims of the Eupatridae to political influence on a level with those of the wealthier citizens of all classes.
Pursuing these two suggestions has established the probability that this, Eupatrid, clan traced its origin to Orestes, and derived its name from the hero, who was above all a benefactor of his father.