Hero-Cults in Homer and Archaeology

Hero-Cult and Homer
Author(s): Theodora Hadzisteliou Price

Source: Historia: Zeitschrift fr Alte Geschichte, Bd. 22, H. 2 (2nd Qtr., 1973), pp. 129-144
Published by: Franz Steiner Verlag
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ABHANDLUNGEN
HERO-CULT AND HOMER
There has been no comprehensive treatment of the heroic cults of the ancient Greeks since Foucart and Farnell,1 apart from studies of the myths or
the character and the 'morphology' of the hero.2 R. K. Hack, a little later, in
an article on 'Homer and the Cult of Heroes',3 protested against the denials
of Rohde, Wilamowitz and Foucart, and Farnell's inconclusiveness, but he
also tended to confuse the 'cult of the dead', that is, the burial rites and ceremonies after it, with the hero-cult, a continually repeated ritual over a long
period of time; he also confused somewhat the subject of hero-belief with
that of the hero-cult. He accepted 'continual cult' in places such as the 'tomb
of Clytaemnestra', without reference to the gap of several centuries between
the Mycenaean burial and the heroic cult started in the 8th century B. C., according to the archaeological finds. Nevertheless, he did stress certain facts
which point in the right direction, although his study seems to have remained largely unnoticed, namely: 1. Homeric scholars reached certain conclusions and when they found passages incompatible with these conclusions
proclaimed them to be survivals, innovations, exceptions or simply interpolations,4 thus regarding the Homeric epics as a receptacle filled with miscellaneous facts; several such instances were designated by Rhode as survivals or
additions, in order to suit his theory of the psyche.2. Homer's dramatic time
is the time of the Trojan war, the 'generation of the heroes', and therefore
the heroes he refers to have to be living persons; he describes them as descendants of Gods, which he sometimes contrasts with the living men of his
age: Iliad 12.447: the two best men of the living mortals could not lift from
the ground to a wagon a stone that Hector was able to throw with ease.6
Farnell: L. R. Farnell, GreekHero Cul/s andIdeasof Immortality(Oxford 1921).
Andronikos: M. Andronikos, Totenkult(Archaeologia Homcrica, Vol. iii, Gottingen 1968).
Kardara: Chr. Kardara, PykinosDomos, in AE 1960, 165-184 (in Greek).
Martin: R. Martin, Recherches
surl'agoragrecque(Paris 1951).
Nilsson: M. P. Nilsson, Geschicbtedergriechischen
Religion,18 (Munich 1967).
Schnaufer: A. Schnaufer, Frubgriechischer
Totenglaube
(Spoudasmata xx, New York 1970).
1 Farnell, 5 if. M. P. Foucart, Le cultedeshiroschezles Grecs(Paris 1918) 34 ff.
2 K. Ker6nyi, Die
Heroender Griecben(Zurich 1958); A. Brelich, Eroi Greci(Rome 1958).
3 In TAPA 60 (1929) 57-74.
4 Hack, op. cit., supra n. 3, 65 f.
6Hack, op. cit., 70 f.
9 Historia XXII/2
130
THEODORAHADZISTELIOUPRICE
3. Homer is for the above reason consciously archaizing, and therefore the
dictionaries may be wrong on the meaning of the word 'pcog'in Homer; clear
accuracy should not be expected in the Homeric works as 'Homer' wrote
poetry, not a volume of 'Ionische Mitteilungen', and one should try instead
to see through the poetic from the references to reality.
There was never consensus on such problems as the origin and the beginning of the hero-cult. Not only Farnell6 but also some modern scholars7 have
connected the beginning of the hero-cult with the spreading of the Homeric
poems, therefore assuming that the cult is a post-Homeric phenomenon; on
the other hand Nilsson8 and others and lately Andronikos9 have assumed
that it is a Mycenaean tradition which continued uninterrupted through the
Iron Age. The latest report, summing up the results, is in the Oxford Classical Dictionary, 1970: 'Hero-cult is not found in Homer, where the word ijpco!
means simply 'gentleman, noble'; Iliad. 2.550-1, supposing it genuine, is
proof rather that Erechtheus was regarded as a god than that hero-worship
was then practised. But excavation has repeatedly shown that Mycenaean
tombs were the site of cult continuously into the historic period (see Nilsson,
GGrR i2, 378 ff.). In Classical and post-Classical literature mention of it is exceedingly common and its typical objects are the traditional jpcoswof Homer
and other writers ot saga, though this is not the only category. It is therefore
likely that it began after the Dorian migration when the ancient chieftains
had become legendary figures, idealized because native and not belonging to
the new invading aristocracy. Whatever its origin, it spread to include many
persons who had never existed save in the imagination of the worshippers.'
This text reflects the current confusion in the bibliography, on the subject of
the hero-cult. Three different theories, mutually contradictory, are put together: 1) 'There is no hero-cult in Homer and Erechtheus was a God.'
2) 'Excavation has repeatedly shown that Mycenaean tombs were the site of
cult continuously into the historic period.' This contradicts statement no. 1,
because it is further stated that such cults existed in Classical times; (unless
one implies that the cults were continuous until Homer, then stopped and resumed in Classical times; however the reference to Nilsson excludes the possibility that this is implied). Nilsson states (wrongly as will be shown below)
that the cults were uninterrupted from Mycenaean to Classical or Hellenistic
times (e. g. the tombs of the Hyperborean Virgins in Delos). If Nilsson's position is accepted and quoted with no argument against it, then Homer necessarily knew the hero-cults and there is no need for Erechtheus to be a God,
* Farnell, 342, and ch. xi.
(Athens 1953)
J. M. Cook, The Cult of Agamemnon at Mycenae, in GerarA. Keramopoullou
112 ff.; idem in BSA 48 (1953) 31 ff. T. B. L. Webster, From Mycenacto Homer (London 1960)
cZiTVMvKqVCV.
136 ff. and bibliography. S. Marinatos, IIEPI TO'; vlov;VPaatALKOk td
l7Poar6
TovdP
' Andronikos, passim.
8 Nilsson, 378 ff.
87 ff.
in Geras Keramopoullou,
7
Hero-Cultand Homer
131
since he is explicitly a hero-king in subsequent periods, (and is, moreover,

the eponymous of an Attic Phyle). 3) 'It is therefore likely that it began after
the Dorian migration'. This flatly contradicts statement no. 2.
Before the matter of hero-cult in Homer is taken up, point no. 2 must be
cleared up. It is untrue that excavations have shown even in one single instance continuity of cult in Mycenaean tombs from the LH period to the historic times. There are only funeral rites in the Mycenaean period itself and no
continuous cult, with one dubious exception in Grave Circle A of Mycenae.'0 There is a gap of several centuries before a cult is instituted in aMycenaean tomb by Iron Age people. There is no evidence of continuity, and no
such cult was instituted inside a Mycenaean tomb before the 8th century
B. C., according to the available archaeological data. There are other instances of hero-cult which probably go further back, at least to the 9th century
B. C. (Pelops in Olympia, perhaps Odysseus in Ithaca(?)) but not inside Mycenaean tombs. At present there is no clear evidence for a cult in a Mycenaean tomb before the 8th century B. C., but there is an abundance of such
cults from the 8th century onwards, that is, from the time the Homeric epics
were composed. The archaeological facts, therefore, disqualify the second
statement, while they ascertain that hero-cult was practised extensively during 'Homer's' time. The third statement, hesitant as it may be, is partly disqualified by the succeeding one: 'whatever its origins, it spread . .'.
Now the question is: was Homer aware of the practices of his time and are
there any hints to hero-belief and cult in his works? At the present state of
evidence one must accept that the hero-cult started at the earliest in the Protogeometric period. The dubious readings of names of Homeric heroes in Linear B Tablets and the Ti-ri-si-ro-e tablet from Pylos1' are not very helpful
since there is no proof that these are names of heroes, or that they received
worship; besides, the meaning of the word hero in Mycenaean times is unknown, as well as its origin, and there is no prefix to denote either a God or a
hero. While the archaeological data at present point against a hero-cult in
Mycenaean times, it is possible that a hero-belief existed.
To come now to the question of the hero-cult in Homer: if the archaeological evidence is so clear that at least by the mid 8th century B. C. heroic
10
G. E. Mylonas, MycenacandtheMycenaeanAge (Princeton 1966) 176 if.: The Cult of the Dead;
178 f.: Cult and Funeral Rites; 181f.: Evidence of Cult in Geometric Times, with previous b.bliography. Andronikos still accepts Nilsson's theory of continuity, but does not produce any evidence for the bridging of the gaps of five or six centuries between the Mycenaean burial and the later cult in the tomb. See also Schnaufer, 14 ff.
21 M. Gerard-Rousseau, Les mentionsreligieusesdans les tablettesmyciniennes(Incunabula Graceca
xxix, Rome 1968) 32 ff. and bibliography; E. Grumach, Die kretischen und kyprischen Schriftsysteme in Aligemeine Grundlagender Archdologie,ed. U. Hausmann (Munich 1969) 234-267, esp.
244 f., 264-67; W. Ekschmitt, Die Kontroverse
um Linear B (Munich 1969) 116, on the Ti-ri-si-ro-c
tablet and bibliography.
9*
132
TITEODORAHADZISTELIOUPRICE
cult practiceswere carriedout in accidentallydiscoveredMycenaeantombs

in Attica and elsewhere, how is it possible that Homer did not know anything about hero-cult,moreoverthat he could treatthe Mycenaeanking-hero
of Athens, Erechtheus, as a God? The theory that heroes are faded Gods
has been long out of fashion,as it has no factualbasis.'2Hyakinthosmaybe a
pre-Greekname13but there is no proof that this namewas used for a God. It
might very well have been a toponymic. On the other hand the connection
of Gods with heroes,suchasArtemis-Iphigeneia, Zeus-Agamemnon, Apollo-Ptoos, have been always proved posterior to the heroic cult. One might
still contest that it is possible that hero-cultis not known in the Homericepics because the poems attempt to recreatea very ancient (partlyimaginary)
age and because, even though hero-cult was practisedin 'Homeric times',
much of his material,including even whole lines, as well as formulae,was
centuries older. But not only the archaeological evidence suggests that
'Homer'was awareof the hero-cultand practices;in addition, some internal
evidence from the poems themselvesindicatesthat the categoryof semi-gods
which Hesiod speaksabout as Heroes, a separategenerationof hemitheoi,is
not unknown in the Homeric poems: Hesiod, Erga 159 ff.; similarlyHomer,
Hesiod (ibid.)
ewov yevo5 advep65v.
Iliad 12. 23: Kab r=Ov eV KOVl7c0rt Kai
Ctt
says that the heroes go to Elysion. SimilarlyHomer, Od. 4. 563-69 makes
Proteus tell Menelaosthat he will not go to Hades but to Elysion. It is even
possible that Homer used the word ij'pca?(Iliad 1. 3; 2. 110; 2. 256; 4. 67;
15. 214, 733; 19. 78 etc.) in a similarway. To the latterhomeristswould object that it belongs to a Mycenaeanformula,i'pEg /Javaol,'4 and is too liberally used. There is no proof, however, that the formulais Mycenaeanand not
later;it is also possible that the liberaluse is due to the poetic fact that Homer describesthe legendarygenerationof heroes (referredto by Hesiod, Erga
159 if.), as Hack has alreadysuggested. In either case, even if it was an old
formulawith differentmeaningwhen Homer adoptedit, nothing tells us that
he did not alreadyunderstandhimself the meaning of the word in the same
way as Hesiod, but use it liberallyall the same,accordingto the metricneeds.
The origin and root of the word ijpwc, apparentlyclose to that of Hera,is not
Hack, op. cit., supra n. 3, 60 f. and bibliography.
R. E. Willetts, Cretan Cul/s and Festivalf (London 1962) 222 and bibliography. He states
wrongly that 'the continuity of the finds is unbroken from Mycenaean times to late antiquity' in
his shrine in Sparta; see Tsountas in AE 1892.
I' M. Parry, L'pithRte traditionnelledans Hom&re(Paris 1928) passim; M. H. A. L. van Valk,
'The Formulatic Character of Homeric Poetry' in AntCi 15 (1966) 5-70 and bibliography. But
J. B. Hainsworth, 'The Criticism of an Oral Homer' in JHS 90 (1970) 90-98 and bibl.: 'For all the
proliferation of comparative studies Homer remains a very special case' (p. 98 P; 'their oral origin
is a point that enters criticism at a lower level for it refers to the means available to the poet, not to
his end' (p. 93).
18
Hero-Cultand Homer
133
exactly known.'5 Eitrem'8 suggested the Sanscrit sara-vant: 'fest', the root
sar equaling the Latin servare (the hero as a servant of humanity?). In spite
of the controversies about the origin and the meaning, if one compares the
use in Homer, Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, Aristotle and Hesychios, taking
also into consideration that very many, if not most, of the heroes were kings
and noblemen, one comes to the conclusion that there is not much divergence to speak of:
Homer, II. 9. 524-5: Ke28a avbpcov?ypcJwcv.
fEIOVy0vos
Hesiod, Theog. 100. 159 f.; Erga 159 f.: KA,-'arrpo-repov divopeo,v,
VI
, l0Ol,
,V
'pwe
oAfltotfl
Homeric Hymn, 32. 18: Kiea qWTCxv rq'uYt#Eov.
Aristotle, Problem. 19.48 p. 922 f.: O' 'ye6TveC rVa IpXalhov OVOLIraav 'pwEr.
Hesychius: `Hpcow, bvvaTro', iaxvpo'5, yEvvalo5, aEpv6.
It has been suggested that the heroes succeeded the Mycenaean kings; 17
even the Minoan king Radamanthys is mentioned as being in Elysion in the
Odyssey (and later Euripides wrote a tragedy Radamanthys about him).'8
There is still an objection: the term bemitheosis used by Homer to refer to
the heroes when they are already dead (Il. 12. 23), while the term heros,heroes
is used for the warriors while still alive. This may hint to the belief of Homeric times that they became hemitheoi after death (this is also the regular belief of later Greek periods before the Hellenistic times); it may suggest that
the term hemitheosimplied the 'heroization' (in Classical terms) which would
only occur after death, while heroscould be used to refer to the hemitheos
while still alive, denoting strength, power, good family, good behaviour, as
in Hesychios' dictionary under ijpcow.Even if the word meant only 'nobleman' in Homer, this does not preclude the existence of hero-cult under a different name, say hemitheos-cult or noble-warrior-king's cult. On the other
hand, in Homer there is reference to people who were honoured like Gods,
such as the warrior-priest of Zeus Idaios, Iliad 16. 604 f.:
AaOyovov,apaaVv vhOv'Ov'Tropo',0R ALd'
c peV
`Iba1Ov ETETVKTO,
&Th6,a'J ne ro 61Up().
The references to Herakles in Olympos, Elysion and Hades, in different
instances,19 Od. 11. 570 f.; 601 f.:
TOV6d 4UeT'd0revor'Xaflh'v'HQaxAqEhev
? Gerard-Rousseau, op. cit., supra n. 11, 1. c.
'
Pauly-Wissowa, Real Encyklopaedie, s. v. . pwoc.
17 J. P. Vernant, Les originesde la pens6egrecque
(Paris 1962) 30 f.
Nauck-Snell, TragicorumGraecorumFragmenla,Suppl. (1963) 566, no. 658.
1* M. Gigante, 'Poesia e critica letteraria nell'accademia antica' in Miscell.di Siudi Alessandriniin
mem. A. Rostagni(Torino 1963) 237 explains eidolon as 'psyche' and avth6 as the real self, the
vovU.However, it is not probable that any such distinction was meant by Homer; it is rather an attempt to reconcile two different traditions.
134
d6w)AOV
avTor 68Ejet
a'Oav'Totqt
OeolatV
"Hfv.
TEQe'eTat E'vtaA2irj,'xal E%et xaAA?vaeov
also to Achilles in the a'acpo6eAOv
(Od. 11. 38)20 show the theoloA)tiuCova
gical confusion. Therefore the fact that only a few Homeric heroes go to
Elysion2l and most of them go to Hades may just reflect an older theological
view; the same ideals are reflected in Hesiod, Erga, 159-173. This view apparently survived, perhaps in popular strata, as is shown by a 6th century
poem by Asios, where somebody is compared to 'a hero coming out from
the mud of the underworld'.22
Acquaintance with the genos of the semi-gods and their abodes is evidenced in the Homeric poems. Archaeology has proved that hero-cult was
common in the 8th century B. C. But why are no cults of Herakles and Menelaos mentioned? Evidently this is not possible anyway because Herakles
and Menelaos are treated in the story as personages of the living generation
(compare with Orestes, in Aeschylus and Sophocles, for whom, however, nobody disputed that he had a hero-cult). Also Machaon and Podaleirios, the
sons of Asklepios, are mentioned by Homer (Il. 2. 729-33; 11. 833-36;
11. 504-20) as 177Tipes'ayatol or aduv'juovE;1Tbp4e, as contemporary to the
Trojan generation, 'perfect doctors', without any reference to their heroic
nature or cult; Sophocles, in Philoktetes 1329-34, treats the Asklepiads in
similar way, with poetic licence, although it is well known that in the 5th
century they were extensively worshipped as heroes-iatroi.
On the other hand the oracular hero Teiresias, later worshipped in Bocotia (Soph. Oed. T. 310 f.; Paus. 9. 16. 1)23 and already mentioned in the Melampodia,24 is treated as a powerful dead, who retains superhuman power after death, while the rest of the dead are mere 'shadows' (eidola), in Odyssey
xi. Odysseus offers sacrifice for nekyiomanteia. This is an element hinting at
a hero-cult of Teiresias or at the notion of the superhuman power of some
dead. Homeric scholars26 stress the lack of power and strength of the dead
after they have received their burial rites, when they become eidola. Homer
apparently only meant that they are devoid of bodily 'power' while they may
retain special qualities they possessed while living, such as divination.
2
G. Petzl, 'Antike Diskussionen uber die beiden Nekyiai' in Beitr. z. Klasr. Philol. 29 (Meisenheim am Glan 1969) 12, 10, 15 f. Scholiast b to Od. 11, 570 f.: ot 6i "E,2jvep; Evrw aftr4 (sc.
aadpo6EAci AeZqLVL)
Kai 7rapa6Elrov
Kal KdAartLV.
M. H. Monteiro de Rocha-Pereira, ConcepfoesHel/nicas de Felicidadeno Alim Homeroa Plaldo

(Coimbra 1955); Pindar, Nem. i. 71; x. 18; Isth. iv. 59 for Herakles; Nem. x. 7 Diomedes; Pyth. xi.
63-4 Castor; 01. ii. 79 Achilles; and Nem. iv. 49.
22 J. M. Edmonds, GreekElegy andIambus,I (Loeb, ed. 1968) 80.
2S See Rzach in RE vA s. v. Thebai.
u R. Merkelbach - M. L. West, FragmentaHeiodea (Oxford 1967) frs. 270-79.
2 Schnaufer, 34 ff. 66 ff.
21
135
Hero-Cult and Homer
Whether Homer had in mind the predecessor of the Ephyran oracle or not,26
he (or whoever wrote the Homeric poems) seems to know well the ritual and
practices connected with the propitiation of a powerful dead whose help he
needs because of his ability in a specific field. Is not this a hint of knowledge
of hero-ritual even if Teiresias is not actually called a 'hero'? The sacrifices of
Odysseus to him are neither burial ritual nor rpt'ranor gvara, but sacrifices
proper, long after the person's death, and intended specifically for the granting of a special favour. The practices, results, and the whole motive of the
nekyiomanteia of Teiresias are those of the hero-cult. Furthermore, Odysseus (Od. 11. 32) promises to Teiresias to sacrifice a black sheep to him in his
return (0tv tEpEVAie,uvnapyllava), a standard sacrifice to a hero (Eur. El.
516: Orestes sacrifices a black sheep on the grave of Agamemnon).
Homer mentions the Dioskouroi, brothers of Helen, as dead under the
earth in I. 2. 243 f.:
"Qrjro,
ala
TOVO-6' 462 KaTEXEV 9Vc1OO'
Ev AaKebaL'ovta3Ot, tIAn Iv naTpltdyai'.
while in Od. 11. 298 f. they receive honours near Zeus, although they live
under the earth and moreover, they receive honours equal to those of Gods:
Kai' Aiq7dv6EMOV,
Trv TvvbapEov 7apdKoITrv,
ii p v i6
Tvv6ap1cp
KaarTopa 0'
TOVr
KpaTEpqOpOVe
&rLo'da,iov
Kal
ydlVaTO na6e,
nvt'aya0dvHolv6EV'KEa,
300
a6sqw Cwov KaTE%Et ovoartoo0ala'
oc Kal V?pOaY0V
ROTE #D'v 4V'c
j TtlqnV 7p6o Z7vd'r1xov-rEg

E&TEppOt,
i2.OTE 6' aVTE
T,0VdciVc Ttrqn)V E 2AEo'yXaatv

laa Oeoka.
One might, however, contest the latter evidence about Teiresias and the
Dioskouroi as coming from the Nekyia, which has been considered by some
as a later insertion or contaminated, although the Nekyia has been defended
by the Unitarians and there is no consensus on the matter.27Even if one eliminates the evidence from the Nekyia, there is still the passage in Od.
10. 527 of Circe's advice to Odysseus to sacrifice to the dead: O'lv apveLovpe'Esv
i8Av'vTE /6Aatvav e'g Egp69o' rcpe'ag ...
This is a clear case of chthonic ritual reserved for deities such as Ge Melaina and heroes such as Boubrostis in Smyrna.28The sceptic could still suggest that this passage was added after the insertion of the Nekyia as a kind of
prologue to it. But outside these passages, Od. 7. 80 f. and Il. 2. 547-51 mention Erechtheus:
Od. 7. 80-81:
24
27
28
S. I. Dakaris, 'Das Totenorakel bei Ephyra' in AntK Beih. I, 1963, 51 if.

Petzl, op. cit., supra n. 20, passim; A. Lesky, Homeros, in RE Suppl. xi, 1968, 811 ff.
P. Stengel, Opferbrauche der Griechen (Berlin 1910) 189.
136
THlEODORA HADZISTELIOU PRICE
Kat eipvdayvtav 'A i1v?v,

k MapathCova
fvcE6' 'EpeXi'or nVKLVOV6O,IOV.
IL.2. 546 f.:
oz6' ap' 'A#tva' dEXov,
E 'KTiEVOV
ATO)LpOV,
6ij1uov'EpeX(1og'yuyaArfropo0,6'v7toT' 'A#'j
TEKE 6ECEidcpog' dpovpa,
2pbpEA1to Ovya&77p,
Ka6 6' EV'A&v5 eTev, Z EV
7'tovtVr0i
ZKETO6'
cvfa 6d ,IV TaVpotat Kat apveto1 Itaovrat

KOVpot 'Atvaitcv
nEptTEpcodevwv ?VtavrC5v.
In the second book of the Iliad the heroic rites performed for Erechtheus
by the Athenian youths are described; there is nothing in them that could
make them more appropriate for a God than for a hero. The sheep is a usual
victim for heroes, as recent discoveries in Eretria, among others, have
shown,29 and the bull as a sacrifice for a hero is mentioned in Classical inscriptions.30 The pattern of the worship of a hero in the shrine of a Goddess
is equally common (Menelaos and Helen at Amyklai, Sparta; Ptoos and an
unidentified Goddess in Boeotia; Nymph and Tritopatreis in Delos; Oedipus in the Temple of Demeter at Eteonos; Pyrrhos of Epeiros in the Temple
of Demeter at Argos, etc.).31 There is no single case of a God who after a
while turned into a king-hero eponymos; there is no need to invent one
afresh. On the other hand an autochthonous king would be born from the
earth as a genos-founder, like the Spartoi in Thebes, while the Gods were
not born from the earth.
Chr. Kardara32suggested a very early (submycenaean-protogeometric) cult
of Erechtheus on the hearth under the Nike temple of the Acropolis; this is a
successor of a Mycenaean gate-shrine. She interpreted pykinos domosnot as a
Mycenaean megaron but as the 'well built temenos of Erechtheus' in the
entrance of the Acropolis, below the Mycenaean tower. The tower would be
the tomb of Erechtheus and the eschara on it the chthonic bomos for the 'unburnt offerings' to the hero. Below the tower, to the west, she located the
shrine where the burnt sacrifices were held. This interpretation fits well with
the cult of a hero-phylakos by a gate, to which also Erechtheus' name seems
to point, if one accepts the derivation from erkos.33In the 6th century the
archaic porous temple and altar were built around the eschara of the tower;
C. B6rard, Eretria iii. L'Hdr6ona laporle de l'ouest (Bern 1970).
Delphic inscription, Dittenberger, Sylloge2, no. 145, v. 32: ToIl flo6C TL/LaTOOrpaoog eKaT'v
ataTilper Aizyvarot,there wrongly interpreted as: 100 Aeginetan staters for a bous hegemon. It
dates from 380/79 B. C. and should be translated: 100 Aeginetan staters for the bull of the hero
(Neoptolemos, or, more probably Phylakos - Herod. viii. 39).
31
Paus. 3. 19. 9; P. Guillon, Les Trepiedsde Ploon, ii (Paris 1943); Nymph and Tritopatreis:
BSA 53 (1929) 170 if.; Paus. 1. 13. 9; 2. 22. 1; Farnell, 17 f.
33 G. E. Elderkin, Kantbaros(Princeton 1924).
32 Kardara, 165 ff.
29
30
Hero-Cult and Homer
137
this temple, according to Kardara, housed the xoanon of Athena as well as

the tomb of Erechtheus.34 Erechtheus as a king-founder gate-hero is similar
to the 8th century warriors hero-phylakes of Eretria.35 The transfer of the
site and tomb to the later Erechtheion, although traditions die hard in
Greece, could be explained by the predominance of Athena's cult in that
area, combined with the collapse of the still used Mycenaean megaron (Kardara dates the remaining columns in Geometric-archaic times). The above
created a feeling of sacredness and antiquity for the old megaron; thus a new
tradition was formed for the site, and some of the most ancient cults, like
that of Erechtheus, were transferred there. This was also more convenient
because of the vicinity to the Prytaneion and the Bouleutereion in the North
slope. This last point ought to have been explored, as a hero-cult near or in a
place of public meetings was an important feature in Greek public-religious
life.38Kardara's identification of dtOVvr qi with the archaic temple of Athena
over the eschara, on the Mycenaean tower, assumes that the passage is late
- however this is a very disputed point.37 It is significant that, when after the
Persian wars the tower was covered anew with masonry and the megaron
was closed in it, two openings were left on the west side of it. These correspond to the architecture of the previous Mycenaean tripartite gate-shrine.88
Kontoleon39 noticed also that they correspond to the architecture of the west
side of the Classical Erechtheion, which recalls a gate, and noted the use of
this west part for the chthonic cults of the Classical Acropolis.
Another rather unnoticed passage from the Iliad provides further clues for
Homer's knowledge of the hero-cult: I. 10. 414 f.40
'lpo l
EKTw)p
6'col floVUqTopol
,pUV ueTa TOtcaV,
flovla6?flovAev'cVedov 7rapa or?7,IaTt"IAOV,
voacrtv d.7r q?Aolaflov cfv)aKa'g 6' Cl 7pcat, 'p,
OVTg' KEKP1IdEv?1pVA taTpaT6OVov 6 mdxcret.
a
1' This, Kardaraconnected with the Iliad passage, thus dating the latter in the 6th century; this
is not necessary, howcver; see infra n. 37. The temple of Athena in Il. 2. 547 could be the temenos
below the tower, or the acropolis itself as the seat of thc patron Goddess of Athens.
'l See C. Berard, op. cit., supra n. 29.
36 Pindar, 01. 1.149; Pyth. 5. 93; Martin 47 ff. Brelich, op. cit., supra n. 2, 131 ff.; Farnell,
348 if.; C. Anti - 1. Pollacco, Nuove Ricerchesui Teatri Greciarcaici(Padova 1969) 178 f. for the heroon in the Kriterion of Argos. The tomb of Arkas, son of Lycaon, was moved from Mt. Macnalus
to the area by the altar of Hera in consequence of an oracle: Paus. 8. 9. 3. Kleisthenes moved the
bones of Melanippos from Thebes to Sikyon: Herod. v. 3.
87 Hope-Simpson and Lazenby, The Catalogueof Ships in Homer'sIliad (Oxford 1970) 56 ff.: 'the
mention of Menestheus, as it were, protects the rest of the Athenian entry. Where so much is obscure about the origins of the Catalogue and the factors which governed the inclusion or omission
of places, we certainly should not assume that Athens alone was not mentioned from the first'.
38 Kardara, and bibliography.
39 To Erechtheion (Athens 1949, in Greek) 68.
'0 Martin, 47 f.
138
Here Hector holds council 'by the barrow of divine Ilos', the eponymos of
TV' #CO "IAov
Jap6avi6ao; 24. 349: pE4ya aryua).Iliad 11. 166-69 gives further information
for the geographic position of the sema of Ilos:
ot 6' nap' "IAov aiya aAaatoiAap6avt6ao
ieraOVKOM
zErt'OVnap' E'pIVEOV
e'aEV'OVTO
Ilion, son of Tros (cf. Il. 20. 232; 11. 371: a'v6poKisTnroE2l
ZI4evot
ndAro!'.
The tomb of the 'ancient Dardanidas' Ilos was in the 'middle of the plain
on the way to the city'. What exactly this means is not clear; it could mean
that it was below the acropolis, in the 'lower town', or on the fringe of the
lower town, before the houses start, E4IEvot no'Anor,or as Capella's dictionary suggests 'in between the city and the ships of the Greeks'.
The homeric 'agorai' were held, according to the literary evidence, in two
different places: 1. On the acropolis, outside the palace of the king, or 2. Below the acropolis, in the lower town, or even far from it, as in Ithaca, Od.
2. 146-54:
'QR oadO T7j7A4aXo5,
Tx 6' alETCrO
Epv'Oza ZEV5)
VpOcEV EK KOpvqS7
T)
Ec@
YEV p
,Critc a'AL7oua
JPCOp
7EpOt3t7KCnETEaOat.
7ECTOVTO jEsa
Ttraivoy4vw
avElOto
7tVOlj
7vTepVyEcatV.
a&AA'
OTe6t71
/UEdarnV
adyopr1v
roqvyfflov
EVO' E7tbtVqEVTE Ttvatdcv6lv
nTepa
?KEadO?V,
150
nVKVa,
mavwv KEqSaAa)~,
okrarovro6' AE
EU6' 1'ET?7V
OpovY
6' ovvxeqc 'rapetk dy4i TE 6E1pak

6pvapzyEvco
6e4tc jtav 6ta x' otKta KaL7roAtvaiT3Ov.
and especially in Phaeacia, where the agora is in the temenos of Poseidon near
the harbour; Od. 6. 261-67:
KapnaAt,o g EpXeeaOat* yc'd 06' v 7?yes1ovErwa(0.
avTap E'rov dALo'&17ritl?
otev, 7VnEpt nVrpyo'
N Al#t1'v EKa'TEpOE noAqO:,
vWAok, KaAdk
AerT'/ 6' Elatffllsr/VEgjc'6'6oav txEAtaaa
EptVaTat, 7ztatv yap UaTtlOV caTtvEKaaITC.
6 TE'Oro'adyopt)KacovIlocrwi'tov ad14i0,
MvOa
pVTOl(JlVAa,OLal KaT(OpvX9Ee(ac
dpapvta.
Od. 7. 39-45:
OVK EVo7raav
TOv 6' a'pa ial`qKcEvavaltKAvrot
6ta'aqea* ovi yap 'AO'rv
EPXOIAVOV KaTa aoTTv
,
Eta FvMAOKa/1O,E1v?)OFo', p,a ol axAwv
E'viOv,i4.
OEMrEo'hV KaTEXeVe otbLa bpovEova'
Kat
6'
Oav'a4Ev
viar E1aar
O6vaevg AtyEva'
0' qpJw'a)v ayopcg Kat TetXEa[aKpa
aVTC()V
cUKO)weavatvaprpo'Ta, Oavoya 6e'arOat.
tYMOAa,
40
45
Hero-Cult and Homer
139
Odysseus first sees the port, then the assembly, then the walls, and then goes
into the polis, to Alkinoos' palace.41 The tomb of Ilos is an equally respected
building as the palace on the acropolis or the temenos of Poseidon where the
assemblies of the Phaeacians were held. llos is significantly called 'ancient
Dardanidas' or 'ancient demogeron'. Therefore the eponymos Ilos seems to
be here either similar to the local Oikistes Fekadeimos of Athens,42 or to the
military hero-phylakes of the recently excavated Geometric tombs and heroon in Eretria.43 Even if the Homeric 'tomb of Ilos' is a poetic fiction, the
poet draws his imagery from the world that he knows, the Greek world
where eponymoi heroes, like Pelops in Olympia, had a tomb, a tymbos,
where probably councils were held in early times44 (in Olympia the archaic
Bouleuterion is not far from it). 'L'etude de la fonction religieuse de l'agora
nous fournira l'occasion de preciser les tr&setroites relations qui unissent
les sepultures heroiques et les lieux d'assemblee. Le probleme souleve par
l'agora circulaire permet de nouer les premiers anneaux de cette chaine et de
remonter peut-etre a son origine. . . On connait le role du cercle fun6raire
de l'Altis, attribue sur la foi de Pausanias, a Pelops, dans la formation de
l'agora du sanctuaire .. .'.46 Similarly the polyandrion of the victorious
hundred Oresthasioi (7th century) was in the agora in Phigalia, Paus.
8.41. 1:
OtyaWi3Evr 6DE
ErC'T% ayopag' Kat oAVa'v6pIovTCO(V
Aoya'&wV TCrV'Opeatacatfcv
WV> Kat
w) ?pwcaTlav'Toi'
ivaylCovat adva&av g'to!
Also the Tomb-heroon of Adrastos was in the agora of Sikyon (Herod.

5. 1-2). Later literary evidence informs us that Aratos was buried in the agora of Sikyon and that in Megara, according to an oracle, the council Hall
was built so as to enclose the graves of heroes.46 That the tomb of Ilos and
Hector's military assembly are outside the city does not make much difference, as the Homeric agora was sometimes outside the city as in Phaeacia in
the passages mentioned above. The fact that Hector's council was a military
assembly strengthens the case that Ilos' tomb was a heroon. As R. Martin
noted, the Macedonian 'assemblies of Chiefs', of military character, which
sprang directly from the Homeric and Achaean tradition, were preceded, according to the literary evidence, by sacrifices on the tomb of a hero: Polyb.
23. 10. 17 and Suda s. v. enagizon:
ova vzo- EavO4F(oi Maxe6o'vgej)MaMamevr
iai xaOap,i6vrzorotoacv
av'v
evaytAovcItv
bwtog'
(7nAlaydvoig.47
The enagisma and purification leave no doubt about the original connection
41 Martin 36 ff.
" See infra n. 56.
'I C. B6rard op. cit., supra n. 29.
" Kroll in RE ix, 1089, s. v.

"5 Martin 47 f.
"I Farnell, 348 ff.
47 Martin, 47 f.; F. Granier, Die MakedonischeHeeresversammlung
(Munch. Beitr. zur Papyrus-
forsch. xiii, 1931) 4-22; Usener, Arch. f. Relig. Wiss. vii (1904) 301 ff. Later versions of Ilos' myth
as founder: Apollod. Bibl. iii. 12. 3; Hellanikos, FGH I, 4, F 25.
140
THEODORA HADZISTELIOU PRICE
between such military assemblies and a hero-cult. The sekos with the tomb
of Theseus was built by Kimon in the Athenian agora; in Argos the Kriterion, a rectangular theatre-like assembly-hall on a terrace, retains in the middle of it remains of a sekos-heroon from the 7th century B. C.48
Another passage in the Iliad, 2.603-4 seems to point to a tomb of a local
hero, or knowledge of such tombs:
O6' 'Xov
Atrv'tov
'ApKa6cqv Vt' KvLZ7v7X o6po' a&crv

T7/flOV, lV' dVEpEg d'yXtyaXTai,
7apa
Aepytos' tomb is here mentioned in conjunction with a mountain aepy(-this

may not be fortuitous?). As the tomb is mentioned as an important landmark
near which the city was built, it is probable that it had a connotation similar to
the tymbos of Ilos. We hear of cities built near rivers, mountains, but nowhere
else is there mention of a citybuilt nearatomb! It seems therefore that the Homeric Greeks took notice of the large round tumuli of Asia Minor, moreover,
that they thought of them in the same way as later Greeks, that is as tombs of
superhuman beings, of heroes. Pausanias, 5. 13. 7, says that the Greeks identified one such tumulus at Sipylos, to the NE of Smyrna, with the tomb of
Tantalos, a hero through suffering, who came from that district.49 Another
such mound in Messenia was associated with Orestes' Finger (Paus.
8. 34. 2).50This last passage from the Catalogue of Ships (603-4) referring to
the enormous tymbos of Aepytos, the largest landmark in Messenia apart
from Mt. Cyllene, could hardly be explained as a tomb of a common man;
moreover, the passage has never been challenged as a later interpolation, and
occurs in what is considered one of the most ancient books of the Iliad.
If Odyssey book 11, the passages of Circe in book 10, and those of the
Dioskouroi and Erechtheus in the Odyssey and the Iliad should be eliminated as 'later' additions and all the rest should be explained as 'old formulae',
then one cannot really say what is meant by 'Homeric poetry', and no kind of
historical conclusions can be drawn. Poetry, however, often has an important kernel of historical truth, especially as far as thought and belief of the
people are concerned. Therefore, such an exclusion would impoverish, rather than clarify, our knowledge. So lacking other proof, one must tentatively
accept the Homeric epics as compositions of the Geometric period, irrespectively of earlier sources of inspiration and formulae, that the poet(s) may
have borrowed; and one should try to draw some tentative historical conclusions from these epics, in spite of the 'Mycenaean' or 'later' elements in
them. For the latter no passage should be excluded simply because it is 'suspected', unless it is demonstrably spurious or late. With the lack of sufficient
Anti-Pollaco, op. cit., supra n. 36, 178 f., fig. 90, and 179, n. 13.
F. Robert, Thym616 (Paris 1939) 93 f, J. E. Harrison, Themis.A Studyof IkesocialOrigin:of
GreekReligion21927, ed. New York (1962) 401 if.
'0 Harrison, op. cit., 402 f.
*8
4"
Hero-Cult and Homer
141
evidence that they are late or 'survivals', such passages should be included in
the research, if other evidence, e. g. archaeological, argues for their originality on grounds of content. As at present the archaeological evidence points
against a hero-cult or king-hero-cult in Mycenaean times, such passages as
the one about the tymbos of Aepytos in the Catalogue of Ships cannot be
considered as Mycenaean survivals irrelevant to the Iron Age practices.
J. A. Notopoulos, taking also into consideration the researches of
Kretschmer and M. Parry, has recently argued that the Achaean heritage of
oral poetry is not confined to the Homeric epics of the Ionian stream, but
that it is also to be found in the second mainland stream; 'the eighth century
shows emphasis on the heroic age in the poetry of Homer, in the prominence
of the age of heroes in the cycles of Hesiod, in mainland art and vases.'61
Hesiod, Erga, 159 ff. describing the 'divine genos of Heroes' refers specifically among them to the warriors that fell in Kadmeia and to those that went
to Troy for the sake of Helen:
7pcoCov iEltov yevor
advpc&v
Ol KaAE'ovrat
KaT acbtpova yalav.

?1P66080, 7rpOT)p?yEVE?7
Kac TOk #Et 6qi&EV O TE KaKOk Kaat OVb'ontr at'V?
TOV
gEV V'
'i))Ec
Ta7rvi
,iapva,u6vov'
&9 n, Kabyqr7it
ral?,
/UL?CwV gVEK
06uo'bao,
TOV be Kal tv virEarv V?7r.Ep

Aa!r,TaOacraa?%
pue2ya
E Tpot'yvdyaywv 'EAEvrj%
CV6K ?r)VKO1to.
[4vO ' Ti
TOV'rg uEwv OavacTov
165
TIoO a/IqEKa'IVAE]
6T1 bsebX' dvOpdonrcov

fl'OTOVKat "'jOe' ;zoZaava
ZeV5 Kpov6r6% KaTe'vaaae7iaT?p li zEtpaTa yatr.
KaCTO-tuevvacovarv aK?7E'a Ov1UOv
`XOVTEr
ev /aKapWV
160
168
170
VcaOtoat7zap' 'QKEav6vfaOv6tV7v,
6)q30t "peOC, TO!UtV #IMlr7E'aKap;rov

Tpt4
"`Teo! Oa'A2ovra Oe pE t46EwbpO a"povpa.
If one accepts that both Homeric and Hesiodic references to the 'divine generation of heroes that are called hemitheoi' are a survival of the Achaean heritage of the Mycenaean age, that would still refer only to the existence of a
hero-belief or hero-myths in Mycenaean times, but not to a hero-cult; the
present archaeological evidence does not support the latter. It is probable that
the Mycenaeans had the notion of heroes or hemitheoi (whatever they called
them) in a similar way to that of some oriental people; the Sumerians and
Assyrians sang the valour of Gilgamesh but did not offer sacrifices to him,
and did not display his tomb, the most important element in the Greek herocult.
"' J. A. Notopoulos, Homer, Hesiod and the Achaean Heritage of Oral Poetry, in Hesperia 29
(1960) 177-197, esp. 189.
142
THEODORA HADZISTELIOU PRICE;
One could argue that archaizing Homer, like Hesiod, uses the Achaean tradition of the 'generation of heroes-hemitheoi', but either he is unaware of
hero-cult practices, or the hero-cult is excluded de facto from the Homeric
epics because they attempt to recreate an ancient age. However, in spite of
such an intention, the poet is bound to draw much material from his own experiences and the world as he knows it; in several things, particularly burial
practices, cremation, etc., Homer draws from contemporary society.52 Besides, the archaeological evidence shows that: a) Hero-cult was practised
extensively in rediscovered Mycenaean tombs in the 8th century B. C. 3
b) There existed an even earlier similar cult of Pelops in Olympia.54 c) There
were heroa of Agamemnon, Odysseus in Mycenae and Ithaca55in the Geometric period. d) The cult of the local hero-Oikistes Fekadeimos was flourishing from the Geometric times onwards in the Akademeia, Athens.58 We
know therefore that: 1. Homer was aware of the practice of hero-cult. 2. In
his time the epic heroes were already worshipped as hemitheoi. 3. Erechtheus was worshipped in Homeric times, and therefore appears in the
Homeric epics not as a God, but as an autochthonous king-hero (cf. Eur.
Medea, 516). 4. Ilos or other heroes were venerated as eponymoi or warrior-kings, especially by military assemblies.57 5. 'Homer' knew such details
of heroic ritual as the black sacrificial animal whose head is turned to erebos;
(even if the Nekyia is an 'addition' there is no proof that it was added later
than the 8th century, except the earlier scholars' denial of such practices in
the 8th century B. C.; the same applies to the reference to the tombs of the
Dioskouroi). 6. The notion of the tomb of Aepytos, so large, important and
well known that it is mentioned together with a mountain as a landmark to
designate the position of a city, indicates knowledge of the Greek hero-cult,
51 Andronikos, passim.
Is See above and ns. 7, 10, especiaUy Mylonas and bibl.
s H. V. Hermann, Zur altesten Geschichte von Olympia, in AM 77 (1962) 16 ff. fig. 2, and p.
18 where all previous bibliography. F. Willemsen, 01. Forsch. iii, 161 if.. 168: Dreiful3kessel von
Olympia.
so See supra n. 7 and for the Odysseion, Cave at Polis, Ithaca, S. Benton, in BSA 35 (1934-35)
45 ff. esp. 51 f.
16 Ergon 1956, 10 ff., fig. 9; 1958, 5 if.; Athens Annals of Archaeology 1968, 107: the 6th cent. horos tes Hekademeias; Ergon 1955, 14 if.; 1959, 5 if.; 1960, 5 ff.; figs. 1, 5, 6; 1961, 3 ff. figs. 1 if.;
1962, 3 ff. figs. 1 if.; 1963, 3 ff. figs 1 ff.
57 The date of the Doloneia has been disputed by some who place it between Hesiod and Solon;
others date it very early. See A. Lesky, Homeros, in RE Suppl. xi, 1968, 791 f. x. Gesang, 415 f.
The latest research can only conclude 'that it was written to be added in this place in the Iliad'.
See A. Lesky, History of Greek Literature (London 1966) 60: 'Attempts to carry out Homeric
analysis on a dialectal basis have consequently achieved little of note. The complexity of the
problems can be seen from the Doloneia. Late forms in it have been eagerly seized upon, but
here, and only here, occurs the old Aeolic flpotrd4o,ev,a linguistic counterpart of the boar-tooth
helmet !'.
Hero-Cult and Homer
143
whose center is the hero's tomb where his bones are buried and his strength
lies. This last passage from the Catalogue of the Ships has never been disputed as an addition - either it was not noticed before, or it was hard to argue
that anyone would want to add anything about the Arcadians.
One should also start wondering whether such descriptions as the athla
for Patroklos, the perideipna etc.,58 do not reflect to some extent practices
connected with the hero-cult, rather than ordinary burial practices which
subsequently were adopted by the hero-cult. Most probably certain
elements went both ways: from common burial practices to hero-cult, and
from hero-cult to special important burials. The early geometric tripods
from the Pelopeion in Olympia, however, show that such practices as the
athla were connected with hero-tombs before the time of the Homeric epics,
therefore they are not the result of influence of these epics. Were these practices described already in pre-Homeric poems such as the supposed Achilleis,59 and how early were these poems? Unless some positive knowledge
about this matter is obtained, one has to admit the possibility that the Homeric descriptions of elaborate sacrifices, games, dirges and perideipna reflect
the influence of the dawning hero-cult, especially in the case of the funeral
games. There is no evidence that funeral games were performed for common
mortals, even kingly ones. The Mycenaean tomb-stones, which anyway seem
to represent hunting scenes, are hardly evidence for such practices in Mycenaean times. The Geometric vases with representations of riders may depict
the games as something recalling heroic status, or they may depict a noble
procession.80 On the contrary, the archaeological evidence, when it is available, points to the heroic association of the funeral games. A bronze hydria
from Karabournaki, Thessaloniki, and another two from Attica, inscribed
'Atevalot Ja#[o]a brl TO IV TO&7OAr?O5t,verify Diodoros' remark,xi. 33. 3,
that an 'agon epitaphios' was celebrated by the Athenians since 479, when
it was instituted for the war-heroes. If the games were something automatic for the ritual of the dead, as the Geometric vases could indicate if the
scenes on them were interpreted as depicting funeral games connected with
the burial, there would not be a special case of instituting such games for the
58 Andronikos, 16 ff.; Schnaufer, 152 f.: Die Pflege des
Leichnams; 156 f.: Die Blutrache;
159 f.: Die Totenklage; 166 f.: Die Bestattungsbrauche.
Il H. Pestalozzi, Die Achilleis als QuellederIlias (Erlenbach-Ziurich 1945).
'I See a group of vases from the last third of the 8th century B. C. which bear representations of
a series of rituals which are certainly connected with the dead, and probably, due to the majesty of
the ritual, to heroic dead, or ancestral heroes: W. Hahland, 'Neue Denkmaler des attischen Heroen- und Totenkultes' in FesthchriftF. Zucker(Berlin 1954) 177-192, esp. 184 f. See also G. Ahlberg, 'A Late Geometric Grave-Scene Influenced by North Syrian Art' in Opusc.Aihen. 7 (1967)
177-186, for possible Eastern influence in the ritual. Rohde, Psyche,long ago suspected this fact
but was refuted; Farnell, 6 ff.
144
THEODORAHADZISTELIOUPRICE, Hero-Cult and Homer
war-dead of 479 B. C. Such legessacraede funeribus that survive give no indication that funeral games were a regular practice.6'
Future archaeological finds may produce more surprises on the early
Greek hero-cult and the Homeric associations.62
Center for Hellenic Studies
Washington, D. C.
Theodora Hadzisteliou Price
61 F. Solmsen - E. Fraenkel, Inscript. Graecaead inlustrand.Dialeclos' (Stuttgart 1966) 109, no.

64, from Cea.
62 This paper, in a different form, was delivered at a seminar in the Center for Hellenic Studies,
Washington, D. C., April 1971. The author is grateful to the Fellows of the Center, especially to
Dr. G. Fabiano, for their discussion; also to Prof. B. M. W. Knox for reading the first draft of this
manuscript and making some useful suggestions, and to the Librarian, Dr. J. Platthy, for his kind
services.

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Hero-Cults in Homer and Archaeology

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Hero-Cult and Homer

Author(s): Theodora Hadzisteliou Price

since he is explicitly a hero-king in subsequent periods, (and is, moreover,

cult practiceswere carriedout in accidentallydiscoveredMycenaeantombs

M. H. Monteiro de Rocha-Pereira, ConcepfoesHel/nicas de Felicidadeno Alim Homeroa Plaldo

Hero-Cult and Homer

a6sqw Cwov KaTE%Et ovoartoo0ala'

ROTE #D'v 4V'c

j TtlqnV 7p6o Z7vd'r1xov-rEg

T,0VdciVc Ttrqn)V E 2AEo'yXaatv

S. I. Dakaris, 'Das Totenorakel bei Ephyra' in AntK Beih. I, 1963, 51 if.

THlEODORA HADZISTELIOU PRICE

Kat eipvdayvtav 'A i1v?v,

cvfa 6d ,IV TaVpotat Kat apveto1 Itaovrat

Hero-Cult and Homer

this temple, according to Kardara, housed the xoanon of Athena as well as

6' ovvxeqc 'rapetk dy4i TE 6E1pak

Hero-Cult and Homer

ivaylCovat adva&av g'to!

Also the Tomb-heroon of Adrastos was in the agora of Sikyon (Herod.

" See infra n. 56.

'I C. B6rard op. cit., supra n. 29.

" Kroll in RE ix, 1089, s. v.

THEODORA HADZISTELIOU PRICE

'ApKa6cqv Vt' KvLZ7v7X o6po' a&crv

Aepytos' tomb is here mentioned in conjunction with a mountain aepy(-this

Hero-Cult and Homer

KaT acbtpova yalav.

TOV be Kal tv virEarv V?7r.Ep

TOV'rg uEwv OavacTov

6T1 bsebX' dvOpdonrcov

6)q30t "peOC, TO!UtV #IMlr7E'aKap;rov

THEODORA HADZISTELIOU PRICE;

Hero-Cult and Homer

THEODORAHADZISTELIOUPRICE, Hero-Cult and Homer

Theodora Hadzisteliou Price

61 F. Solmsen - E. Fraenkel, Inscript. Graecaead inlustrand.Dialeclos' (Stuttgart 1966) 109, no.

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