A Myth Along the Timeline: Harmodius and Aristogeiton -- Mimetic Theory and Literary Study

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Date Posted: 19:00:31 03/16/08 Sun
Author: Kiernan
Subject: A Myth Along the Timeline: Harmodius and Aristogeiton

In his "History of the Peloponnesian War" 6.53-59, Thucydides tells the story of the mythical tyrannicides, Harmodius and Aristogeiton. According to city mythology, these two men assassinated the tyrant, Hipparchus, and brought freedom to Athens. Such a myth bears fascinating similarities to the founding myths discussed by Girard. A murder becomes the foundation of a culture and civic order. The victim is a tyrant, a public leader of prominence. The story bears all the markers of a myth, and thus provides an interesting study in partial divinization, or a kind of civic divinization.

In our class on Ancient Greece, we read poetry mythologizing these two. An example:

A great light arose for the Athenians when Aristo-
geiton and Harmodios slew Hipparchos:
The two of them made their natire land [?equal in laws].

Here, Harmodios and Aristogeiton are imbued with a light, as if they are gods. Though they never achieve the status of divinization, their place as revered leaders still falls within the realm of partial divinization. This brings to mind numerous civic myths, in which the hero is not divnized, but becomes a kind of "founding father" for the culture. How many of these are myths along the timeline of the founding murder, not quite entire myths, but still retaining the fundamental characteristics of a myth?

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