Monument of the Eponymous Heroes

The Monument of the Eponymous Heroes on the ancient Agora of Athens was a marble base that carried the bronze statues of the ten mythical heroes who gave their names to the ten classical phylai (tribes) of Attica. It stood directly next to the Metroon and was enclosed by a wooden fence between stone posts. State announcements such as draft proposals, citizen lists and military call-ups were posted on whitened wooden tablets along its sides, making the monument the central notice board of Athenian democracy. The line-up of heroes was updated when new phylai were created under the Hellenistic kings. On the present-day Agora only parts of a long statue base remain, with room for ten standing figures. With a little imagination and a plan in hand, visitors can reconstruct the democratic news centre of 5th-century BC Athens.