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The Mutilation of the Herms

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Pictures related to the so-called "mutilation of the herms," a city-wide act of vandalism that led to a sort of witch hunt in Athens in 415 B.C. The incident is…

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Diocleides allegedly saw the hermokopidae milling around the Theater of Dionysus in the middle of the night before they'd vandalized the statues. He had woken up early because he had to walk down to Laurium in southern Attica, some 20 or 25 miles away, to collect a payment from a slave who was working the silver mines there. Ancient Mysteries, How To Wake Up Early, Dionysus, Milling, Allegedly, Athens, Statues, Theater, Southern

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Diocleides allegedly saw the hermokopidae milling around the Theater of Dionysus in the middle of the night before they'd vandalized the statues. He had woken up early because he had to walk down to Laurium in southern Attica, some 20 or 25 miles away, to collect a payment from a slave who was working the silver mines there.

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Pottery Painting

A symposium scene on a red-figure vase. It was at parties such as this that the Eleusinian Mysteries were performed, outside of their appropriate context. It was a great sacrilege that was uncovered during the Athenians' investigation into the vandalism of the herms.

Aristophanes refers to the hermokopidae--literally "herm choppers"--in lines of his play Lysistrata: "If you're smart [he says to a chorus of men sporting huge erections], you'll close your coats lest the hermokopidae see you. The Joy Luck Club, Solomon Northup, Fear And Trembling, Drama Theatre, Shirley Jackson, Green Knight, Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, The Scarlet Letter, Literary Criticism

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Aristophanes refers to the hermokopidae--literally "herm choppers"--in lines 1093-1094 of his play Lysistrata: "If you're smart [he says to a chorus of men sporting huge erections], you'll close your coats lest the hermokopidae see you."

Cover of the paperback version of The Mutilation of the Herms. Ancient Mysteries, Mystery, Cover, Books, Libros, Book, Book Illustrations, Libri

Ancient Mysteries

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The Mutilation of the Herms: Unpacking an Ancient Mystery

Cover of the paperback version of The Mutilation of the Herms.

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The Mutilation of the Herms: Unpacking an Ancient Mystery

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Our principal source for the mutilation of the herms is Andocides' speech On the Mysteries.

Our Records don't go back this far.but a fragment of one of the inscriptions that recorded the sale of property confiscated from those found guilty in the scandals of 415 B. Ancient Mysteries, Scandal, City Photo, Witch, Funny, Witches, Funny Parenting, Witch Makeup, Wicked

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A fragment of one of the inscriptions that recorded the sale of property confiscated from those found guilty in the scandals of 415 B.C.

The Temple of Hephaestus, in Athens' agora, where Diocleides allegedly talked to one of the hermokopidai, Euphemus. Greek And Roman Mythology, Ancient Mysteries, Allegedly, Ancient Greece, Greek Islands, Athens, Gazebo, Temple, Outdoor Structures

Greek And Roman Mythology

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Outdoor Structures

The Temple of Hephaestus, in Athens' agora, where Diocleides allegedly talked to one of the hermokopidai, Euphemus.

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The charismatic Alcibiades, who had been appointed as general of the upcoming expedition to Sicily, was implicated in the profanation of the Mysteries.

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Fine Art Prints

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This 17th-century engraving by Pietro Testa depicts the drunken Alcibiades interrupting a more sedate get-together (as described by Plato in his dialogue Symposium).

The Theater of Dionysus, near the Acropolis in Athens, where Diocleides said he saw the hermokopidai ("herm-choppers") gathered before they went out to mutilate the statues. Ancient Mysteries, Acropolis, Archaeological Site, Dionysus, City Photo, Dolores Park, Explore, Travel, Outdoor

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The Theater of Dionysus, near the Acropolis in Athens, where Diocleides said he saw the hermokopidai ("herm-choppers") gathered before they went out to mutilate the statues.

The investigation into the mutilation of the herms led to the discovery of a series of unrelated offenses: the profanation of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Pictured is an excavation site at Eleusis, some 20 miles northwest of Athens. Ancient Mysteries, Life Is A Journey, Archaeological Site, Ancient Greece, Pilgrimage, Athens, Paris Skyline, Mystery, Travel

Ancient Mysteries

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Archaeological Site

The investigation into the mutilation of the herms led to the discovery of a series of unrelated offenses: the profanation of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Pictured is an excavation site at Eleusis, some 20 miles northwest of Athens.

The herms were mutilated in late May or early June of 415 B., shortly before the Athenians launched their expedition to Sicily. The expedition would end in disaster two years later. Ancient Mysteries, Product Launch, June, Green, Sicily, Mediterranean Sea, Greece

Ancient Mysteries

Mediterranean Sea

The herms were mutilated in late May or early June of 415 B.C., shortly before the Athenians launched their expedition to Sicily. The expedition would end in disaster two years later.

A red-figure vase from the early fifth century B. showing a herm. Ancient Mysteries, Ancient Artifacts, Ancient Egyptian Art, Ancient Greece, Minoan, Greek Art, Bear Art, Sacred Art, Erotic Art

Ancient Mysteries

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A red-figure vase from the early fifth century B.C. showing a herm.

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Garden gnomes – Lollipops and Rainbows

Some herms' genitals were carved in relief rather than projecting from the pillar. These were less vulnerable to amputation.

Hermes or "herm" 2 (happy ones) (vase, 470 B. Greece Art, Ancient Mysteries, Socrates, Greek Gods, Ancient Greece, Ancient Art, Worship, Hermes, Mystery

Ancient Mysteries

This vase from the early fifth century B.C. depicts a trio of herms.

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Herms were ancient greek statues of the god Hermes that looked kind of like Pez dispensers, with one obvious difference.