Who Destroyed the Sacred Herms of Athens? – An Ancient Greek Mystery
Marble herms – Athens Stone Sculpture Gallery – National Archaeological Museum of Greece- Athens – Photo – Gary Todd.
One bright and sunny morning in June, the seventh to be exact, in the year of 415 B.C., the citizens of Athens, awoke to the news, that during the night, all over the city, the Herms (hermai), statues of the god Hermes, had been desecrated, their faces had been pulverized and their phalluses ripped off.
Although there were a few suspects, who destroyed the Athenian herms; “phalloi”, four-sided pillar statues, usually with the face of the god Hermes sporting an erect phallus, remains, to this day, an unsolved mystery, or does it?
The event, which occurred just as the Athenians were about to attack Sicily, during the Peloponnesian War (431- 404 B.C.), has gone down in Greek history, as an omen of what was about to befall the Athenians.
The Peloponnesian War
431-404 B.C.
The Three Phases of the Peloponisian War
The Peloponnesian War fought between Athens and Sparta, the two most powerful city-states in ancient Greece, can be split into three phases:
The first ten years of the conflict are known as “Archidamian War,” after Spartan King Archidamus.
A peace treaty signed in 423 B.C; the Peace of Nicias, was meant to last fifty years, as it turned out, it barely made it to eight.
The second Phase began around 415 – 413 B.C., with the main event of the war, the Sicilian Expedition, when Athens lost nearly all its navy after attempting to capture Syracuse, an ally of Sparta.
This defeat led to the third phase, 413–404 B.C., the Decelean War, or the Ionian War, when the Persian Empire supported Sparta, who formed an impressive fleet under the leadership of Lysander.
After a run of Spartan victories in the Aegean, most notably the Battle of Aegospotamos, in 405 B.C., Athens surrendered.
This was the end of the Golden Age of Greece and the fall of Athens, once the strongest city-state in Greece.
The Herms of Greece
Herm of Dionysos, 200–100 BC, front view. Malibu, J. Paul Getty Museum,.
In ancient Greek, a herma, was a pile of stones by the side of roads, especially at their crossings and boundaries of lands.
The custom was, for each passer-by, to throw a stone onto the heap, which was said to ensure them a safe journey.
Some historians believe this is from where the name Hermes, messenger to the Greek gods, also the protector of travelers, communities, houses, entrances and exits, may be derived, as before his role as protector of travelers, Hermes was a phallic god of fertility.
In the same vein, Hekate, or Hecate, protector of women and Greek goddess of witchcraft, is the goddess of crossroads, (especially at junctions where three roads converge often called a Y-intersection), boundaries and Hades the Underworld.
Hecate, Greek goddess of the crossroads; drawing by Stéphane Mallarmé in Les Dieux Antiques, nouvelle mythologie illustrée in Paris, 1880
Eventually, the piles of stones were replaced with four-sided pillars, square and tapering toward the bottom, resembling human figures, to which a head, with the face of Hermes and a phallus were added.
Over time, the heads came to be not only those of Hermes but also those of any amount of other gods, heroes and even females and mortals of high standing.
Janiform Herm of Hermes – one side depicts a young Hermes, the other, Artemis. Roman bronze marble 2nd – 3rd century
The statues, said to ward off danger and all things evil, were to be found not only at crossroads but outside houses, temples, next to graves and many public buildings.
The majority of herms stood at the entrance to the Agora of Athens (market place in modern Greek), situated beneath the northern slope of the Acropolis, the city’s commercial and civic hub, the main meeting place for Athenians, after the attack, only a few of the statues remained intact.
The Ruins of the Ancient Athenian Agora, with the Stoa of Attalos and the Acropolis in the background.
Destruction of the Herms
Herma or herm – statues, 510 B.C. + Roman copy of a 5th c. herm.
The defiling of the herms, one of the worst examples of sacrilege in Classical Athens, shocked the Athenians, who felt it was not only sacrilegious but a bad omen for the imminent attack the Athenians were planning for Sicily and an obvious assault on democracy by those who were against it.
They immediately appealed for witnesses to come forward with any information, for which there would be a substantial reward.
Marble bust of Thucydides from a double herm of Thucydides and Herodotus, found in Hadrian’s Villa, Tivoli – National Archaeological Museum, Naples.
Athenian historian, soldier and an officer, Thucydides (c. 460–400 B.C.), records the event, which occurred just before the Athenian fleet was to set sail, under the leadership of Alcibiades, to attack Syracuse in Sicily (415 B.C.), in his famous works; The History of the Peloponnesian War:
‘‘In the midst of these preparations all the stone Hermae in the city of Athens, that is to say the customary square figures, so common in the doorways of private houses and temples, had in one night most of them their faces mutilated.
No one knew who had done it, but large public rewards were offered to find the authors; and it was further voted that any one who knew of any other act of impiety having been committed should come and give information without fear of consequences, whether he were citizen, alien, or slave.
The matter was taken up the more seriously, as it was thought to be ominous for the expedition, and part of a conspiracy to bring about a revolution and to upset the democracy.’’
The Suspects
The first question on the lips of the Athenians that morning, after learning of the desecration of the herms, was “why?” the second was “who?”
Was it irreverence against the Gods, a protest against Athenian customs and traditions, a simple act of drunken vandalism or was it something much more serious; a conspiracy against democracy?
Athens had been engaged in on and off conflict with both Persia and the totalitarian city-state of Sparta, in defense of democracy, for over a century.
Also, at this time the Athenian naval fleet was about to invade Sicily, under the command of Alcibiades, so naturally, conspiracy against democracy jumped to first place on the “whodunit list”.
Nothing was ever proved, however, the Athenians were convinced the vandalism was the work of saboteurs, be it Syracuse, owing to the imminent battle, or Spartan sympathizers from inside Athens, or by enemies of Alcibiades, commander of the upcoming Athenian expedition to Sicily.
Xenophon of Athens:
Greek Military leader, mercenary, philosopher and historian (c. 430 – 354 B.C.)
Pupil of Socrates
Statue of Xenophon by Hugo Haerdtl in front of the austrian parliament
One of the accused was Xenophon of Athens, a Greek Military leader, mercenary, philosopher and historian, (c. 430 – 354 B.C.), a Spartan sympathizer, who, as had Alcibiades, whom we’ll get to in a minute, been a pupil of the philosopher, Socrates.
Upon his return from the Persian expedition, which he describes in his work, “The Anabasis”, Xenophon fought for the Spartan king Agesilaus II, as a mercenary against an Athenian coalition and was consequently exiled from Athens.
He was given land in Scillus, a district of ancient Elis, south of Olympia, by the Spartans, where he spent many years before moving on to Corinth, where he died in 354 B.C.
Socrates:
Greek philosopher of Athens, credited as the founder of Western philosophy
(c. 470–399 BC)
Socrates by Pietro Bellotti (1625–1700).
Yet another famous Athenian came under suspicion of being connected with the smashing of the herms.
Contrary to popular belief, Socrates was not as well – loved as history would like to have us think.
Many believed Socrates leaned towards extreme oligarchy, which most of his friends and young people who were within his circle, not only supported but had gone as far as to take active roles in the Athenian coup of 411 B.C.
The coup had occurred after the financial crisis brought about by the failed Sicilian Expedition of the Athenian military in 413 B.C., during the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta.
The coup overthrew the democratic government of Athens, replacing it with an oligarchy known as the Four Hundred.
Critias:
Writer and leader of The Thirty tyrants (who ruled Athens after the end of the Peloponnesian War in 404 – 403 B.C.)
Pupil of Socrates
Critas of Athens
Another amongst those arrested for the mutilation of the herms, was Critias, another of Athens’s elite and yet one more pupil of Socrates.
While many of the accused were immediately executed and others fled the city, Critias was acquitted when the evidence presented by his accuser was thrown out as inadmissible.
He was, however, exiled from Athens.
Alcibiades (c. 450 – 404 BC):
Prominent Athenian statesman, orator and general
Pupil of Socrates
Alcibiades Being Taught by Socrates (1776) by François-André Vincent – Musée Fabre –Montpellier – France.
Now we come to Alcibiades, another pupil and sometimes lover of Socrates, who, though a democrat was extremely controversial, for as we shall see, he didn’t think twice about changing sides and supporting the Spartans, or the Persians, when it was to his advantage.
Alcibiades was from one of the most famous aristocratic families of Athens, the Alcmaeonids and nephew of Pericles, the foremost man in Athenian democracy, who, with his wife, Aspasia, formerly one of the most desirable courtesans of Athens, adopted the young Alcibiades after the death of his parents.
Rather the man about town, rich, charming and leading a glamorous lifestyle, sought after by both men and women, Alcibiades, the playboy of Athens, was known for his air of entitlement and his loose morality.
Félix Auvray – Alcibiades with the Courtesans (1833) – Musée des Beaux-Arts de Valenciennes.
He achieved the rank of General at an early age, showing competence and imperialist ambitions.
In all likelihood, his name was the first on the list of master minds behind the violated herms mystery, who, before this event, had already been accused of religious disrespect and ridiculing the Eleusinian Mysteries, the most sacred religious cult of Athens.
In fact, Alcibiades was actually officially accused as being the ring leader of the crime, however, the Athenians knew they had no chance of defeating the Sicilians in the pending battle, without Alcibiades at the helm and so decided to postpone a trial until the expedition returned home triumphant.
Alcibiades defects
Upon learning he was to stand trial for the destruction of the herms, knowing he would be made the scapegoat of Athens and be declared guilty of impiety, which meant the death penalty, Alcibiades defected to Sparta.
Without him, the Sicilian expedition was a disaster, Alcibiades, muttering under his breath that “democracy was an obvious absurdity” began planning his revenge on Athens.
What he came up with was devastating for Athens; he had the Spartans build a fortress or wall, around Athens, making it impossible for the Attican farmers to feed the people of Athens, now, all food must be imported.
Whist in Sparta, Alcibiades was up to his old tricks again, after being caught in a compromising position with the wife of King Agis, as retribution he vowed to seal a deal with the Persians in order to raise money to fund the war against Athens.
Alcibiades led a Spartan fleet to Ionia, an ancient region on the western coast of Anatolia, south of present-day Izmir, where he requested help from Darius II, King of Persia.
However, when the Spartans ordered his execution, Alcibiades defected to Darius and settled down to wait out the war whilst planning his return to Athens where a coup had momentarily put democracy on hold.
The Fall of Athens
The return of Alcibiades to Athens -The illustrated history of the world Published 1881-1884
Things were not going well for the Athenians; they needed an experienced and competent leader for their naval fleet.
The first name that came to mind was Alcibiades and so, they let bygones be bygones, forgave the playboy opportunist for his collaboration with the Spartans and the Persians and put him in command of the Athenian fleet based at the time, on the island of Samos.
Victory however was not on the cards for the Athenians, the Spartans won the day and in 405 B.C., Athens surrendered.
The Aftermath:
The Thirty Tyrants of Athens
Critias, one of the Thirty Tyrants, ordering the execution of Theramenes, a fellow member of the oligarchy that ruled Athens in 404–403 BC
After the defeat of Athens, in 404 B.C., the Spartans recalled all exiles to the city, dissolved the democracy replacing it with an oligarchy of thirty elected tyrants.
One of the two leaders was Critias (the other Theramenes), who had been brought back to Athens by the Spartans, from his exile in Thessaly.
Remember Critias?
He was one of the accused for instigating the destruction of the sacred statues, the herms.
Critias was one of the most violent of the thirty tyrants, who, when chastised for this by his fellow leader, Theramenes, had him arrested and executed.
Although the Thirty were in power for only a short time, under a year, around five percent of Athenians were slaughtered, property was confiscated and those not exiled, left of their own accord.
In 403 B.C., a group of exiles, led by Thrasybulus, overthrew the thirty tyrants and democracy was restored.
During the uprising, Critias was killed.
Has the mystery of the desecration of the herms been solved?
Ancient Herms statue discovered during excavations on Aiolou street, Athens on Friday, November 13 2020 – Image – Greek Culture Ministry
After their return to power, all the Athenians wanted was to forget about the Peloponnesian war, get things back on track and restore democracy.
They had not forgotten though, about the herms dilemma and were intent on bringing the culprits to justice.
Of the main suspects, two were dead; Critias, killed during the uprising led by Thrasybulus and Alcibiades, who, in 404 B.C. had escaped to the Achaemenid Empire province of Hellespontine, Phrygia, where he was assassinated by the Persians, maybe on the orders of the Spartans.
La mort d’Alcibiade. Philippe Chéry, 1791. Musée des Beaux-Arts, La Rochelle.
The whereabouts of Xenophon were, at the time, unknown.
That left Socrates, who, in 399 B.C. was brought to trial, accused of impiety and of corrupting the youth of Athens.
Although Socrates was officially on trial for religious reasons, many believe Socrates was accused owing to his political beliefs and his connection with traitors.
Now some say, the impiety charge, was really about the destruction of the Herms and as to the second charge, the corruption of the youths of Athens, there was little or no doubt in the minds of the prosecutors, that the corrupted youths were Critias and Alcibiades, both pupils of Socrates and traitors to democracy, as was Socrates himself.
Socrates was sentenced to death by poison.
They do say everything happens for a reason!
The only one sure thing about the Herms mystery is that it certainly was a bad omen for what was ahead for the Athenians if they attempted to capture Syracuse.
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