Orations

On the morning of June 7th 415 BC the people of Athens woke to find that the statues of the Idol Hermes, which stood in front of private houses and temples where vandalised. Every citizen could see his divine guardian standing at his doorstep damaged and desecrated, and gradually they found that they not alone, the whole city have lost its divine guardian. Trepidation was great. The Athenians wanted to discover the identity of the vandalisers and announced that they will give rewards and immunity to the informers who would provide some information about the blasphemy. The information received included more than information about the damaging of statues, it included information about desecration of Oration ceremonies held in private houses. The scandal was immense, the biggest one in Athenian history. Arrests were made, prosecutions, executions and flights to exile. Andocides, who was one of the accused, lists, in the defence speech he gave, the speech about the Orations, the chain of events and tries, of-course, to prove his innocence. The speech gives important information on the scandal and is an key source for learning about state events at the end of the 5th century BC.