Carmela Maria Pericola

Thucydides maintains that Hipparchus’ murder by Harmodius and Aristogeiton was a private matter. Herodotus asserts that the tyrannicide failed to free Athens from Peisistratides’ tyranny. However, Harmodius and Aristogeiton have been celebrated by the tradition as heroes and freedom fighters in Athens. This tradition may be explained by the epithet given to them, Gephyraioi. It appears to be connected with the Tyrannicides’s ethnic group (from the Beotian city of Gephyra), in whose defence the murder was committed. The ideal point of family group defence would have been shared and supported by Athenian aristocratics.