Chorus leader and musical patron Lysikrates built this tower in 334 BC to commemorate the victory of his sponsored chorus in the dramatic contests of the Dionysia. The trophy, a bronze tripod, was set atop the pedestal. It's the earliest-known monument using Corinthian capitals externally, a style that is imitated in many modern monuments. The reliefs depict the battle between Dionysos and the Tyrrhenian pirates, whom the god had transformed into dolphins.
In ancient times, this street was lined with similar monuments to winners of dramatic and choral contests. This is the only one to survive, in part because for a time it was protected, as a Capuchin convent library was built around it. (Lord Byron stayed at the convent in 1810–11 and wrote Childe Harold.) The convent was destroyed in 1821 when the Ottomans occupied Athens.
