Before Tekashi 6ix9ine was waving illegal firearms on Instagram Live for attention, there was Herostratus, the OG of overcompensating criminals. Some people commit crimes because they have no other options. Some people commit crimes because of mental illness. Some people commit crimes simply because they want to be noticed. Yes, this phenomenon is not reserved for the internet gangsters and Soundcloud rappers of today, people have been committing crimes exclusively for notoriety since ancient times.
Ancient Greece is often thought of as being a utopian society of historic thinkers like Plato and Aristotle as well as great leaders like Alexander the Great and Leonidas (about whom the film 300 is based).
However, even the noblest societies have their fair share of boneheads. Herostratus was so desperate for clout that he committed one of the worst crimes ever perpetrated in antiquity, a crime that he must have known would end in his execution.
Herostratus represents one of the most pitiful parts of humanity, the part that seeks attention over every other ideal and will do anything to be known. Here is the story of Herostratus, the man who paved the way for the overcompensating criminals of today.
Who Was Herostratus?
Very little is known about who Herostratus was as a person. All that we can say for sure is that he was a young man from Ephesus (the ruins of which are in modern-day Turkey). He was also most likely either a slave or a member of one of the lower classes of Ancient Greek society.
Many of the members of the lower classes in Ancient Greece were freedmen, people who were once slaves but were able to gain their freedom through years of labor and saving money. These people were still not considered citizens and were never allowed to gain their citizenship.
In all likelihood, Herostratus was a member of one of these exploited and marginalized classes. As a result, he probably felt the sense that he had been forgotten by society, that his life would leave no mark on history. This feeling of insignificance may have been what drove Herostratus to commit one of the worst crimes in the history of Ancient Greece.
The Temple of Artemis Burns
On July 21, 356 BC, Alexander the Great was born. That very same day, one of the worst crimes ever committed in Ancient Greece was carried out by a young man named Herostratus. The young man decided that he would leave his mark on history by setting the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, ablaze.
The temple had been destroyed once before by a flood in the 7th century BC and had since been rebuilt. So the temple that Herostratus set on fire was the second iteration of the Temple of Artemis, the Ancient Greek goddess of wild animals, the hunt, vegetation, chastity, and childbirth. The new temple had taken years to build and was 180 feet wide, 337 feet long, and had pillars 40 feet high.
Burning down the temple was not just an offense against the gods but also the entire society of Ancient Greece. When the people of Ephesus saw that the temple was burning down, they feared that Artemis would seek retribution if they did not find and properly punish the man responsible. Eventually, Herostratus was hunted down and captured by his fellow countrymen and delivered to the authorities.
The Punishment of Herostratus
Once captured, Herodotus was tortured on the rack by the authorities. They were able to get him to confess to his crime and it probably didnโt take all that long. During his interrogation, Herostratus famously said, โI, myself, burned the temple. I couldnโt have shared this victory with anyone else. I felt the horror to my joints. Now itโs over. First, I was very scared then it all went away once I imagined the fame I would have.โ
Yes, Herostratus essentially admitted that the entire spectacle was carried out simply to gain fame. Knowing this, the authorities gave Herostratus the punishment of damnatio memoriae, meaning that no one was allowed to speak his name or put it in writing ever again under the penalty of death. It was an attempt to deny him the fame that he sought by erasing him from all collective memory. Herostratus was also executed after admitting to his crime.
The fact that we still know the story of Herostratus today proves that the damnatio memoriae was not all that effective. In fact, it is said that the name of Herostratus has outlived the names of the judges who sentenced him. His story was spread through the writings of a historian named Theopompus and later by another historian named Strabo.
The Temple Is Rebuilt
In 323 BC, the Temple of Artemis was rebuilt, this time even larger and more magnificent than the previous two. Once rebuilt, the temple again became the primary place of worship for the people of Ephesus. Once again, that didnโt last all that long.
In 262 AD, the Goths (a Germanic people who played a major role in the emergence of medieval Europe) invaded Ephesus and destroyed the Temple of Artemis for the third and final time. It was never rebuilt again.
The Legacy of Herostratus
It seems that Herostratusโs attempt to gain eternal fame has been somewhat successful. His name has been referenced in literature by some of the most famous writers of all time including Geoffrey Chaucer, Miguel de Cervantes (the author of Don Quixote), Herman Melville, and Jean-Paul Sartre. Adolf Hitler once referenced Herostratus in a speech he made to the Berlin Reichstag in 1939. The 1979 film Stalker (directed by Andrei Tarkovsky) makes reference to Herostratus. There was even a film made in 1967 titled Herostratus about a poet who attempts to gain fame by committing suicide publicly.
On top of all of the references to Herostratus in media, his name has also made an impact on the field of psychology. Today, a Herostratus complex refers to someone who has a deep sense of inferiority or insignificance and feels that they must commit crimes to be noticed and gain notoriety.
People who suffer from a Herostratus complex often destroy important works of art (as Herostratus himself did), destroy publicly useful objects, or even hurt animals. All of this is done in pursuit of whatโs called โherostratic fame,โ or fame sought at any cost.
In todayโs world, there are probably quite a few people suffering from a Herostratus complex who have never heard that term or the story of Herostratus before. Now, when you watch someone destroying something on the internet in pursuit of viral fame, think about Herostratus. If you see someone depraving themselves or doing things simply to make others mad in hopes of gaining notoriety, think of Herostratus. Remember: holding onto your integrity is far more important than gaining fame.