The latter complained to his Athenian friends about what he regarded as the treason of Phrynichus, and demanded that he should be put to death.
The 19th-century historian Connop Thirlwall could not decide whether Phrynichus' conduct was the result of a complete lack of caution, or a bold and subtle artifice.
Subsequently, when the oligarchic faction found that the hopes held out to them by Alcibiades were groundless, and that they could get on better without him than with him, Phrynichus again joined them, and, in conjunction with Antiphon, Peisander, and Theramenes, took a prominent part in the revolution which led to the establishment of the oligarchy of the Four Hundred.
When considering how to respond to the meeting between Alcibiades and the Athenians at Samos, Theramenes and others counselled the oligarchs to make the best terms they could with their antagonists.
It appeared that the assassination was the result of a conspiracy among those opposed to the oligarchs, but the latter decided that it was most prudent not to pursue the investigation.