LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
Past Out: Who were Harmodios and Aristogeiton? |
by Rawley Grau |
For the ancient Greeks, democracy was symbolized in the image of two male lovers. Their names were Harmodios and Aristogeiton, and for centuries they were honored as the founders of equality under the law. But their actions seem to have been intended primarily to protect their relationship, not to create a new form of government.
In 546 B.C.E., a tyrant usurped power of the city-state of Athens from its ruling coalition and established a dictatorship. He was succeeded in 528 by his eldest son, Hippias. His second son, Hipparchos, apparently shared power, serving as a kind of minister of culture. At some point, Hipparchos became enamored of a young man named Harmodios. The historian Thucydides, writing a century later, describes the situation as follows: "Harmodios was then a most beautiful young man in the flower of his youth, and was loved and possessed by Aristogeiton, a citizen who belonged to the middle class. Harmodios was approached, though without success, by Hipparchos." Although Harmodios rejected Hipparchos' advances, Aristogeiton was greatly upset. The tyrant's brother continued to pursue Harmodios, who continued to rebuff him. When Hipparchos realized he didn't stand a chance with Harmodios, he took out his disappointment on the young man's family. He invited Harmodios' younger sister to take part in a ceremonial procession, then, at the last minute, sent her home, saying she was unworthy. The implication was that she was not a virgin. This insult only compounded Harmodios and Aristogeiton's grievances against Hipparchos. The two lovers conspired with others to kill both Hippias and Hipparchos in 514. But on the scheduled day, their plans went awry when they saw one of their fellow conspirators talking with Hippias. Alarmed that their plot was about to be exposed, the lovers rushed over to Hipparchos and slew him with daggers. Harmodios was killed instantly by Hipparchos' bodyguard, but Aristogeiton managed to escape. Soon, however, he was found and tortured to death. The tyrant Hippias remained in power another four years, during which time his rule became extremely oppressive. In 510, he was overthrown, and two years later, an innovative system of representational government was established that today we recognize as an early form of democracy. Aristogeiton and Harmodios did not, in fact, slay the tyrant; they killed his brother. And they did so not from political motivesat least not primarilybut "under the impulse of rage caused, in the one case, by love and in the other by wounded pride," as Thucydides points out. Nevertheless, a cult grew around Harmodios and Aristogeiton, honoring them as heroes and tyrant-slayersand the founders of democracy. Less than 10 years after their deaths, bronze statues of the lovers were erected in the city's main square. No other mortals had received such a tribute, and these statues were likely among the first individualized portraits created in Greece. Their poses, replicated on vases and coins and imitated in countless other sculptures, quickly became emblematic of heroism. Despite Thucydides' attempt to establish the facts, the Athenians persisted in their devotion to the ill-fated lovers. One drinking song, which dates from the fifth century B.C. expresses this civic feeling especially well: "Fame shall be yours forever throughout the earth, / Dearest Harmodios and Aristogeiton, / Because you slew the tyrant / And made Athens a place of equality under the law." Rawley Grau has won four Vice Versa Awards for his writing on gay and lesbian culture. He can be reached at GayNestor@aol.com. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 11, No. 4, May 4, 2001. |