Thomas R. Martin, An Overview of Classical Greek History from Mycenae to Alexander, The Peloponnesian War and Athenian Life, The course of the Peloponnesian War, Launching the Expedition to Sicily, The mutilation of the Herms

Home Collections/Texts Perseus Catalog Research Grants Open Source About Help

Hide browse bar Your current position in the text is marked in blue. Click anywhere in the line to jump to another position:

This text is part of:

Greek and Roman Materials

View text chunked by:

chapter : section : subsection : subsubsection

The mutilation of the Herms

Herms¹, stone posts with sculpted sets of erect male organs and a bust of the god Hermes, were placed throughout the city as protectors against infertility and bad luck. A Herm stood at nearly every street intersection, for example, because crossings were, symbolically at least, zones of special danger. The vandals outraged the public by knocking off the statues' phalluses.

Herms on vases, Sculptures of Herms, Thuc. 6.27.1, References to herms

The Annenberg CPB/Project provided support for entering this text.

Purchase a copy of this text (not necessarily the same edition) from Amazon.com

Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar:

Thomas R. Martin, An Overview of Classical Greek History from Mycenae to Alexander

This text is part of:

View text chunked by:

Table of Contents:

The mutilation of the Herms