#aristogeiton

[scribl1ta]

Harmodius and Aristogeiton @jarl-of-nordland ⚔️ sketch under the cut

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

[whimsimarion]

My first entry in the Classics-tober 2024 Challenge. "Harmodius and Aristogeiton" (they were the original "Be gay, do crimes", you can't convince me otherwise!)

Center below: The tyrant Hipparchus, after being assassinated by Harmodius and Aristogeiton (notice the Family Guy death pose?)

Left to right: Harmodius, Aristogeiton

Behind them: Varius Scythian guards, ready to kill them

First time learning about them was through Abraham Kawa's, Alecos Papadatos' and Anni Di Donna's (if the two last names are familiar to you, it's because they have worked on "Logicomix", which I strongly recommend) graphic novel, "Democracy", which retells how democracy came to be in Ancient Athens. I do like it, although the design is not that appealing

[billiemilou]

Day 7 of Classicstober is Harmodius and Aristogeiton, Athenian national heroes, they were lovers who assassinated Hipparchus, the brother of the tyrant Hippias. Harmodius was killed immediately by one of Hipparchus' guards, and Aristogeiton was arrested.

Aristogeiton was then tortured to give up his fellow conspirators, but tricked Hippias to shake his hand, stating that he just shook the hand of his brothers murderer, causing Hippias to kill him.

Later, Hippias was forced into exile, allowing for the democratic reforms of Cleisthenes to come in. Cleisthenes commissioned statues of Harmodius and Aristogeiton, the Tyrannicides.

[quidam-sirenae]

Classicstober day 7: harmodius and aristogeiton.

So those that know me know I’m a Plato hater. But the republic made its way in here. There are a lot of references to cicero, sallust, Matthew, Plato, and Aristotle. Uh. Yeah below the cut.

I talked to an angry friend yesterday

My god got stripped away in the search for eudaimonia, see,

Can’t find it in luck, can't find it in fate,

Where the hell am I supposed to find a full belly and a warm place to spend the night?

My good life got lost somewhere on the road to Rome, the via felixa, or some shit like that,

God got lost a long way from Hellenika, and now I’m trying to put him back in the holy land,

Else put him away forever.

I talked to an angry friend yesterday,

He lost his god in Greece just like me.

Sometimes I think there's a hole inside, a void meant for perfect forms that I fill with shadows on cave walls.

Even tyrant killers have to be in love.

Even impious men die with their friends beside them.

My god died in Athens, died in Rome, died in Golgotha,

Died alone, died as a shadow on a cave wall, died friendless,

Died unmarried, died rebelling against the state, died alone,

Died alone,

Died alone.

I lost my god in ruins of dead places and languages that have no natives anymore,

Lost him in the promise of tyrant killers finding solace.

I lost god a long way from home and I don’t know if I want to pick him up again.

Let the dead keep their own peace. I have nothing for them.

Plato’s politeia made its nest inside my lungs which are now filled with sparrowlets.

I made eudaimonia unreachable in the bid for knowledge.

Tyrant killers are wanderers seeking Xenia who are mistaken on the nature of clemency,

And I kiss your cheeks to remind you of the unburied and the slaughtered gods

Who reside on cave walls and in perfect forms.

And I went to bed feeling unholy

Though I know the nature of the Politeia well enough.

I am considering two Brutuses, a set of lovers, and a rationale for murder,

Which is where I lost god anyway.

Aristotle has let worms burrow deep into my stomach, and he is now refusing to remove the holes they left.

I find the matter of government repulsive, though it, too, has burrowed and nested inside my skull,

Where god has cut himself off a skein of fabric and made a purple sash,

And I do not think I could remove it without removing myself entirely.

Though I laud Athenian democracy, I find myself more partial to a place where I may remain uninformed.

Where god is made of little less than forms,

Where Golgotha is the center cavity of two lovers curled in one body,

Where tyrant killers can destroy a god without love getting in the way of it.

Rome appears bloodied and dying in all my dreams,

The place where I lost god now left to be overtaken by the ones who keep God in their back pockets and read his bible as a Politeia and an Apologia,

And I lost god where others found him.

There are unfinished statues of tyrannicides in the forum in Athens,

What happened to honoring in marble those who kill their gods and kings?

I lost god while reading Plato,

Finding myself other things to stand behind and die over.

I lost god in Athenian regicide,

And all the echoes of tyrants calling out warnings of violence as they fell.

[akkar2]

Group of the tyrannicides Harmodios and Aristogeiton, Braunschweig restoration

[woodsteingirl]

cassius and brutus……

[classicstober]

#ClassicsTober24 Day 7: Harmodius and Aristogeiton

Picked by Professor Joel Christensen, Professor of Classical and Early Mediterranean Studies

[architetturacannibale]

just found out that one of Athen's most important and significant sculptures was in fact a gay love triangle turned into murder, now celebrated as the symbol of freedom of the polis from the tyranny

[alicedrawslesmis]

I'm the rare 'don't ship Enjolras and Grantaire, nor do I really like them, but also seriously think they're canon'

[orngeeeee]

just found out about harmonious and aristogeiton. this ancient greek yaoi is no joke.

[exercise-of-trust]

now i don’t mean to be rude but. did we read the same book

[erosyrup]

7/7: Enjolras (Les Misérables)

“he was serious, it did not seem as though he were aware there was on earth a thing called woman. He had but one passion--the right; but one thought--to overthrow the obstacle. [...] He hardly saw the roses, he ignored spring, he did not hear the carolling of the birds; the bare throat of Evadne would have moved him no more than it would have moved Aristogeiton; he, like Harmodius, thought flowers good for nothing except to conceal the sword. [...] If any grisette of the Place Cambrai or the Rue Saint-Jean-de-Beauvais, seeing that face of a youth escaped from college, that page's mien, those long, golden lashes, those blue eyes, that hair billowing in the wind, those rosy cheeks, those fresh lips, those exquisite teeth, had conceived an appetite for that complete aurora, and had tried her beauty on Enjolras, an astounding and terrible glance would have promptly shown her the abyss, and would have taught her not to confound the mighty cherub of Ezekiel with the gallant Cherubino of Beaumarchais.” — Les Misérables

—

Staring a mini series of aro-coded characters for Aromantic Awareness Week! Some are canonically coded as Aro, some are just my projections. Either way, I hope you like them :)

[planet-gay-comic]

Hope and Aspiration

The relationship between Harmodius and Aristogeiton was likely marked by deep emotion and intimacy. They were not only close friends but also comrades in their shared struggle for a higher cause.

In ancient Greek culture, love was viewed in various forms, and it was entirely acceptable for deep emotional bonds between men, whether of a romantic or platonic nature, to be part of the societal fabric. The connection of these two individuals to the gods Eros and Himeros suggests that there was at least some attraction between them, be it physical or spiritual in nature. Their history's veneration of love gods hints that their relationship was characterized by a special form of affection.

Nonetheless, the true nature of their relationship remains open to interpretation and has intrigued humanity for centuries, sparking ongoing discussions. The mystery and complexity of love and friendship are topics that have preoccupied mankind and will continue to do so.

The story of Harmodius and Aristogeiton is not only a tale of love but also one of freedom and democracy. They were willing to sacrifice their lives to stand up for their convictions and the ideals of democracy. This dedication and willingness to work for a better society are timeless symbols of belief in change and hope.

The longing for a better future and the determination to shape the world linked Harmodius and Aristogeiton inseparably. They are symbols of courage and the willingness to make sacrifices to create a better world, becoming legends that inspire and encourage humanity. In their story, we see the yearning for change and the hope for a better world that moves us all.

Text supported by Chat GPT-3.5 and Bard These images were generated with StableDiffusion v1.5. Faces recalculated with inpainting and composing.

[pagliaccis-clown]

Loki and Sigyn

A rendition of the Tyrannicides, by Kritios and Nesiotes

[Reuploaded to fix mistakes in the art]

Harmodios and Aristogeiton were two lovers that lived in late 6th Century BC Athens, under the rule of the tyrant Hippias. Hippias’ brother, Hipparchus, was infatuated with Harmodios, and attempted to court him. Harmodios rejected his advances, which infuriated Hipparchus. Using the corrupt power that came with being the tyrants brother, he had Harmodios’ sister publicly disgraced. After this incident, Harmodios and Aristogeiton took matters into their own hands, and assassinated Hipparchus, thus earning the title “The Tyrannicides”. The tyrant killers. Harmodios was killed immediately after, whereas Aristogeiton was tortured before eventually being killed too. Although they themselves did not end tyranny in Athens, their actions lead to the eventual overthrowing of Hippias, and the rise of democracy. 

[akkar2]

Group of the tyrannicides Harmodios and Aristogeiton

[woodsteingirl]

it’s really interesting to read descriptions of other conspiracies and their associated assassinations (esp with renaissance europe) because most of them honestly seem to parallel caesar’s assassination…