Alcibiades Was Not Responsible For The Hermae Statues

The Athenian religious scandal of 415 occurred during the planning of the Sicilian Expedition in which all of the Hermae statues in the city were mutilated. The crime was regarded by some as being unlucky for the coming expedition and by others as a plot to put an end to democracy. For the campaign against Syracuse, the people elected three generals; Alcibiades, Nicias and Lamachus. The men were given sole influence and power over all affairs concerning the war while many citizens donated money and enrolled in the military forces to show their interest in the coming conflict. After the mutilation of the statues, sizable rewards were offered to anyone who came forward with information about who might have been responsible for the offense with

Many people disliked him because of his public and private behaviour and because they perceived him to be a tyrant. As a result of the citywide disapproval of the general, along with the people’s need to find someone to blame for the scandal, Alcibiades was seen by many as the suspected perpetrator of the mutilation. Despite the multiple claims stating that the mutilation of the Hermae statues was executed by Alcibiades, he is innocent of the charges based on evidence which suggests he was willing to stand trial to prove he was not responsible for the defacing of the statues, several of his enemies had motives to frame him and many other suspects were solely looking to clear their own names by denouncing multiple people without

They used the scandal to accuse him of attempting to overthrow democracy. The assembly had suggested the impeachment of Alcibiades because of his alleged lack of respect for the gods. Androcles, his mortal enemy, used his influence and encouraged the negative feelings towards Alcibiades. Many of his enemies utilized their hatred towards him and convinced other people to feel the same way. A man named Diocleides came forward after the mutilation of the statues and denounced the names of three hundred people who he claimed were responsible for the crime. He had said that he could see the men in the moonlight and was able to identify their faces. It was later revealed that the moon was not visible on the night of the mutilation. Diocleides confessed he lied about the men who he had claimed were involved with the mutilation and disclosed that the real culprits were Alcibiades and Amiantus after being promised he would be pardoned from his dishonesty. He may have been another person who had implicated Alcibiades in the mutilation but it can’t be confirmed that Diocleides decided to tell the truth. He had lied the first time he went to provide information so what would have stopped him from lying again? Once Alcibiades returned from his expedition, he went to trial to settle the charges that