Harmodius

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A legendary Athenian youth who, with his lover Aristogeiton, killed the tyrant Hipparchus in 514 BC and became a celebrated symbol of liberty
2. The name of an ancient Athenian man honored as a tyrannicide for slaying a tyrant's son alongside his lover Aristogeiton
3. Harmodius was one of two Athenian lovers remembered as tyrant-slayers, whose deed made them heroes of democracy in classical Greece

Etymology: Harmodius was one of two Athenian lovers, Harmodius and Aristogeiton, who killed the tyrant Hipparchus in 514 BC. The murder was a personal revenge, not a political coup, since Hipparchus had insulted Harmodius's sister, and the two men were executed for it. Yet the Athenians soon turned them into heroes of liberty. Their statues were set up in the Agora, and the pair became the subject of a drinking song (a "skolion") that was sung at banquets for generations, which made their names among the most celebrated in Athens. The name itself is Greek, "Harmodios," probably related to "harmos," a joint or fitting-together, though the exact derivation is uncertain. It came into English as a proper name tied to classical history and literature, so it appears mainly in discussions of ancient Athens and in the tyrannicide tradition.