Hipparchus was a tyrant and was the ruler when he was killed by Harmodius and Aristogeiton. The fact of the matter is, Thucydides says, that it was Hipparchus older brother Hippias who was in power, not Hipparchus. Hippias was the eldest son of Pisistratus, so he was the ruler of Athens, not Hippias, who was younger, and not Thessalus, the third son of Pisistratus, who was also younger than Hippias. As for Harmodius and Aristogeiton, they originally planned to assassinate Hippias. However, somehow