Harmodius and Aristogeiton

Harmodius (circa 530 BC - 514 BC) and Aristogeiton (circa 550 BC - 514 BC), known as "the Liberators" and "the Tyrannicides", became heroes in Athens through their role in the overthrow of the Tyranny of the Peisistratid family.

Peisistratus seized power in 541 BC and established a radical regime. Peisistratus is usually called a tyrant, but the Greek word tyrannos does not mean a cruel and despotic ruler, merely one who took power by force. Peisistratus was in fact a very popular ruler, who made Athens wealthy and powerful, although the old aristrocractic families he had driven from power hated him. When Peisistratus died in 528 BC, his sons Hippias and Hipparchus succeeded him. They continued their father's policies, but their popularity declined after Hipparchus began to abuse the power of his position.

In 514 BC Hipparchus sought the sexual favours of Harmodius, who was, the historian Thucydides tells us, "then in the flower of youthful beauty," which would have made him about 15. Harmodius was the eromenos (younger lover) of Aristogeiton, whom Thucydides describes as "a citizen then in middle rank of life" - possibly aged about 35 and a member of one of the old aristrocratic families.

Homosexual relations between an older man (the erastis) and a youth were sanctioned by custom in Athens and other Greek cities, although most of these men were not homosexual in the modern sense of the word. Such relationships were governed by strict conventions, and Hipparchus's actions in trying to steal Aristogeiton's eromenos was a definite breach of the rules. (Thucydides says bluntly that Aristogeiton "was his lover and possessed him.")

When Harmodius rejected Hipparchus, and told Aristogeiton what had happened, Hipparchus decided to avenge this insult by having Harmodius's sister removed from partipation in one of the ceremonies of the festival of the Panathenaea, on the grounds that she was not a virgin, as was required. This was such a mortal offence to Harmodius's family that he and Aristogeiton resolved to assassinate Hipparchus. This they did, stabbing him to death in public at the festival, in the hope of triggering a revolt against the Peisistratids.

The two lovers were killed on the spot by Hipparchus's guards (although Aristotle in the Constitution of Athens preserves a tradition that Aristogeiton died only after being tortured in the hope that he would reveal the names of other conspirators), and there was no revolt. His brother's murder, however, led Hippias to establish a real dictatorship, which proved very unpopular and was overthrown, with the help of an army from Sparta, in 510 BC. This was followed by the reforms of Cleisthenes, who established a democracy in Athens.

Subsequent mythology thus came to identify the romantic figures of Harmodius and Aristogeiton as martyrs to the cause of Athenian freedom, and they became known as "the Liberators" (eleutherioi) and "the Tyrannicides" (tyrannophonoi).

After the establishment of democracy, the sculptor Antenor was commissioned to produce a statue group of Harmodius and Aristogeiton that was erected in the Agora. This statue group was stolen by the Persians when they occupied Athens in 480 BC (see Persian Wars). It was returned to Athens by Alexander the Great (according to the historian Arrian) or by Seleucus I (according to the Roman writer Valerius Maximus). In the meantime, however, the Athenians had commissioned Critius and Nesiotes to produce new statues, which were set up in about 477 BC.

Both statue groups are now lost, but the later work was extensively copied in Hellenistic and Roman times. An excellent copy may be seen in the Archaeological Museum in Naples. It shows idealised portraits of the two heroes: a nude, clean-shaven Harmodius (with a much more adult physique than he would actually have had), thrusting a sword forward in his upraised left hand, and the bearded Aristogeiton with a rock in his left arm, over which a chlamys, or cape, is draped.

The story of Harmodius and Aristogeiton, and its treatment by later Greek writers, is illustrative of attitudes to homosexuality in Ancient Greece. Both Thucydides and Herodotus say that the two were lovers, without making any comment on this fact: clearly they assumed that their readers would be familiar with institutionalised homosexuality and would find nothing remarkable about it.

The story continued to be cited as an admirable example of heroism and devotion for many years. In 346 BC, for example, the politician Timarchus was prosecuted (for political reasons) on the grounds that he had been a prostitute. The orator who defended him, Demosthenes, cited Harmodius and Aristogeiton, as well as Achilles and Patroclus, as examples of the beneficial effects of homosexual relationships. The fact that the statues of the Liberators were still being copied in Roman times shows the durability of their legend.