Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Foreword by Paul Cartledge

Introduction

PART ONE

Chapter 1
First scene
The murder of Hipparchus

BIRTHS AND GROWING PAINS
The Tyrannicides between glory and outrage

Chapter 2
Date of birth unknown
Antenor's Tyrannicides

Chapter 3
A second birth
The statuary group produced by Critius and Nesiotes

Chapter 4
The artist's studio as a playground
Iconographic variations based on the Tyrannicides (c. 470-411 B.C.)

Chapter 5
The disorders of a thankless age
The oligarchic revolution of 411 B.C. and its consequences

Chapter 6
Their finest hour
The revived glory of the statuary group in the restored democracy (403 B.C.)

PART 2
THE AGE OF REASON?
The incomplete normalisation of the Tyrannicides

Chapter 7
The age of honours
New meanings for the monument in the fourth century

Chapter 8
Model "notables"
The Tyrannicides in the Hellenistic period

Chapter 9
Forever young
The uses of the statuary group in the Roman period

Epilogue
Born Again.
The statuary group's belated rebirth in the West

Conclusion

Appendix
Iconographic allusions to the Tyrannicides group

Bibliography

About the Author

Vincent Azoulay is Professor of Ancient Greek History at Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée University.

Reviews

"This is an original and fascinating study that shows how the statues of Harmodius and Aristogiton and their story have reverberated down the centuries." -- Brian A. Sparkes, Classics for All
"Azoulay's book is a pleasure to read -thanks also to the translator- as he travels with Harmodius and Aristogiton through the Athenian Agora, down unexpected Roman colonnades, and Syrian alleys. Although, as he confesses, the topic is familiar from political history and art history ('a torrent of specialist studies' 4; cf. 13), Azoulay presents good observations on the ambivalent ideologies of this statuefied pairing and unexpected viewpoints on changing
'strategies of celebration.'" --Donald Lateiner, Ohio Wesleyan University, in Bryn Mawr Classical Review
"The overall design of [Azoulay's] microhistory is ingenious. By focusing on a single object originally found at the center of Athens, he conveys us meaningfully through seven centuries of political evolution: Harmodius and Aristogiton become the fixed points around which all of Greek history revolves." -- New York Review of Books
"This exhilarating study unpacks the multifaceted life and afterlife of two statues in Naples, known jointly as the Tyrannicides, depicting Athenian heroes Harmodius and Aristogeiton about to strike down Hipparchus, the brother of the Athenian tyrant Hippias, in 514 BCE." -- CHOICE
"Vincent Azoulay's work builds on his predecessors ... He offers a comprehensive account of the sources, whether literary, iconographic, historical, or epigraphic ... Paul Cartledge offers a stimulating and sympathetic foreword, and the concluding notes and bibliography are exceptionally full and detailed." -- Lucilla Burn, Times Literary Supplement
"Vincent Azoulay has written an important and thoroughly engaging object biography of one of the most important monuments in the history of Greek art, which stood for centuries in the Athenian Agora. While much has been written about this group, Azoulay's novel approach is to consider the changing ideas, perceptions, and reception of this monument over the long arc of its history. This study makes an important contribution to the history of honorific statuary
and the role of public art in the Greek city." --Sheila Dillon, Duke University
"This wonderfully readable and deeply learned book breathes life into two statues, allowing them to lead us on an immensely engaging journey that begins with intrigue, murder, and factional politics, continues with insult and redemption, and concludes with undying renown. Along the way we visit Athens, Persia, Rome, Russia and many points in between. And we learn how a master historian interweaves historiography, epigraphy, iconography, poetry, and political
philosophy into a masterful narrative to explain anew why modernity can never be free of the spell of the classical past." --Josiah Ober, Stanford University
"To understand the story of the Tyrannicides and the statues they inspired is to understand Athenian art and history, how they related in antiquity, and how they have related and resonated in the modern world. Vincent Azoulay is a sure guide, untangling the histories of this powerful myth and powerful icon both in antiquity and through to the twentieth century." --Robin Osborne, University of Cambridge