Herostratus () was a young man who set fire to the
Temple of Artemis at
Ephesus (in what is now western
Turkey) in his quest for fame on about July 20, 356 BC. The
temple was constructed of
marble and considered the most beautiful of some thirty shrines built by the
Greeks to honour their
goddess of the hunt, the wild and childbirth. The temple was also one of the
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, 425 feet long and supported by columns sixty feet high.
Far from attempting to evade responsibility for his act of
arson, Herostratus proudly claimed credit in order to immortalise his name in history. In order to dissuade similar-minded fame-seekers, the Ephesean authorities not only
executed him but also condemned him to a legacy of obscurity by
forbidding mention of his name under the penalty of death. This did not stop Herostratus from achieving his goal, however, as the
ancient historian Theopompus recorded the event and its perpetrator in his history.
References in literature and popular culture
Herostratus's name lived on in
classical literature and has passed into modern languages.
- In German a Herostrat is a criminal out of thirst for glory.
- The English term Herostratic fame, likewise, relates to Herostratus, and means, roughly, "fame at any cost". Such men as Mark David Chapman, who murdered John Lennon, may be considered modern examples of the Herostratically famous.
- In Finnish, herostraattinen kunnia ("Herostratic honour") means being known only because of one's infamy or notoriety.
- The Japanese version of the Momus CD Oskar Tennis Champion contains a track titled "Erostratus" in which he gloats about his posthumous fame. It references the Sartre story in describing Erostratus's name as enduring "like a black diamond".
See also
