Two noblemen, Aristogeiton and Harmodios, assassinated Hipparchos, brother of the Athenian tyrant Hippias, in 514 BC. The motive seems to have been personal but after the tyrant family was evicted from Athens the 'Tyrant-slayers' were regarded as heroes of the democratic revolution and a statue group of them, by Antenor, was set up in the Agora. This was carried off by the Persian King Xerxes in 479 BC, and replaced with a new group by Kritios and Nesiotes, which is known from copies.
Above left: Detail from an Athenian red-figure clay vase, about 400 BC. Museum of Fine Arts Boston 98.936 © Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Above right: Marble statue. Naples, Museo Nazionale © Museo Nazionale, Naples
