AGORA, Eponymous Heroes

The “Monument of the Eponymous Heroes” was built in honor of the ten heroes who, legend has it, gave their names to the ten tribes that once lived in Attica, the region Athens is part of.  

Only the base and the fence can be seen today, with a row of rectangular pillars perforated on the sides. This structure originally supported the statues of the ten heroes.

This work celebrates the origins of the city, and was used to display the most important communications addressed to its citizens. At the foot of the statues, wooden tablets were placed with new laws, accusations, sentences and everything else that regarded public life.

Behind the monument, at the foot of the temple of Hephaestus, you’ll find the remains of a building called the Bouleuterion, which housed the boule, or council of citizens, composed of 500 members, which set the agenda for the public assemblies.

2500 years ago, the Agora was the heart of political life in Athens, founded on democracy, in which some 35,000 people took part, i.e. all eligible male citizens....