Died mid-fifth century B.C Athenian state figure.

Ephialtes expressed the interests of the democratic circles of the Athenian population. He campaigned for a break with Sparta and for an autonomous Athenian foreign policy; in domestic politics he advocated further democratization of the state system and the curtailment of the political power of the Areopagus, which was the bulwark of the aristocracy. In 462, Ephialtes aroused the ire of the aristocracy by carrying out a reform that limited the functions of the Areopagus to authority over criminal cases. Shortly thereafter, he was treacherously assassinated. Pericles was an associate of Ephialtes and carried on his policies.