| Altar of the 10 Eponymous Heroes |
The Eponymous Heroes get their name from a legendary hero from which each of the ten Athenian tribes was honored with. Aias, the son of Telamon, who fought bravely at Troy, was perhaps the most famous of these ten heroes. He died due to suicide, an act performed after he was not named "The best of the Acheans and he learned that his cousin Achilles died. Erechtheus, Aegeus, Pandion, and Cecrops were also prominent in this myth.
Located directly across from the Metroon, which was adjacent to the Bouleuterion and the Tholos, this monument is a marble podium with ten bronze statues flanked on both sides by tripods. The Athenians used this as an important information center. Whitened boards with proposed legislation, charges in public prosecutions, agendas for the Assembly, and military conscription lists were attached to the monument.
*The Athenian tribes were selected as such, due to the geographical locations, not kinship. It is also important to note that they were artificial political divisions of the Athenian people*
The altar was considered the center of the town and everything was measured from that point. Every map and every trail were thus in relation to the altar.
In conclusion, not only was the altar a legislative and judicial centerpiece, but it was also a literal centerpiece. Everything that came about either politically or theoretically originated from this very spot.
Sources from the web:
http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/classics/dunkle/athnlife/epnymous.htm
http://www.lfc.edu/academics/greece/AgoraTour.html
http://www.stoa.org/projects/demos/article_eponymous_heroes?page=8&greekEncoding=UnicodeC
