#harmodius

*I'm not tagging this because it's heroic nudity (so sfw) but I can if that becomes an issue.

Satyr statuette or applique, probably originally attached to the base of a larger bronze statue, ca. 160–150 BCE. Berlin, Antikensammlung Misc. 7466. 

The youthful satyr carries a set of panspipes in his right hand as he defends himself with his left hand which probably originally held a lagobolon, a type of stick that was used to hunt rabbits. 

↳rk1000 moodboard(s): the tyrannicides

Harmodius and Aristogeiton were two lovers known as the Tyrannicides after they killed the tyrant Hipparchus in 514 BC, and were the preeminent symbol of democracy to ancient Athenians. Hipparchus invited Harmodius' young sister to be the kanephoros (to carry the ceremonial offering basket) at the Panathenaea festival, and then publicly chased her away on the pretext she was not a virgin, as required. This publicly shamed Harmodius' family; then he, with his lover Aristogeiton, resolved to assassinate both Hipparchus and his brother Hippias and thus to overthrow the tyranny. The assassination plot was to be carried out by means of daggers hidden in the ceremonial myrtle wreaths on the occasion of the Panathenaic Games. They managed to kill Hipparchus, stabbing him to death as he was organizing the Panathenaean processions at the foot of the Acropolis. Harmodius was killed on the spot by guards, while Aristogeiton was arrested shortly thereafter. While being tortured by Hippias, Aristogeiton feigned willingness to betray his co-conspirators, claiming only Hippias' handshake as guarantee of safety. Upon receiving the tyrant's hand he is reputed to have berated him for shaking the hand of his own brother's murderer, upon which the tyrant wheeled and struck him down on the spot. His brother's murder led Hippias to establish an even stricter dictatorship, which proved very unpopular and was overthrown, with the help of an army from Sparta, in 508. This was followed by the reforms of Cleisthenes, who established a democracy in Athens.

ahh thank you so much!! i'm so glad you enjoyed deep end :''') and i love this extremely weird question about it! i hate to be a cliche but i really do think it would be the heart (at least to me). deep end for me was a very emotionally bloody experience, in a good way if that makes sense? i exorcised a lot of demons while writing it. i dug pretty deep into things that i usually leave alone, and exposed stuff i typically like to keep hidden. and it was a very healing and hopeful experience for me! i cried a lot while writing which is kind of embarrassing but also who cares. and, to me at least, it's a deeply hopeful story. painful? definitely. bloody? at least a little bit (sorry grantaire). but the hope was the most important bit to me. hope that people can change, hope that we can help each other, hope that we can grow into the things that we want but didn't fit for a long time. it's all very mushy, i know. and i'm attributing a lot of stuff to the heart that's completely metaphorical. unfortunately i am a very sentimental person so these things happen.

Andrew Lear, PhD in Classics, reveals the story behind this fragment from a red-figured Greek vase. It’s not much to look at, but history doesn’t get more gay than the Tyrannicides, Harmodius and Aristogeiton, lovers who were honored as the heroes of Athenian democracy.

Read more ->

Additional information about their hero cult from Dr. Lear ->

The pottery fragment at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston ->