Hero Cult Flashcards
Was the Pantheon closed ?
What is evidence for your argument.
According to Mitrpolous
The pantheon was permeable with the boundaries often unclear
Famous heroes including Heracles and Achilles are worshipped
Sometimes hero have been described as Theos such as Theogenes at Thasos or Hero’s Iatros from Athens
How does Gunnel Erkroth explain the difference between the gods and hero ?
‘A hero can be defined as person who lived and died either in myth or real life this being the main distinction between a god and a hero’
What are the two types of hero
the person would have to achieve something to become a hero either positive like Heracles who completed 12 labours to save communities
or
negative: like Cleomedes of Astypalea who killed his opponent in the pankration and was disqualified. He was enraged by this and tore down a school killing sixty children and he somehow vanished
The oracle at Pythia declared him a hero
Who was the most popular hero and where was he worshiped ?
Hercules
Honoured at Olympus where his labours are depicted on the temple of Zeus
Who is the hero doctor ?
Asclepius worship throughout the Greek world and was predict as a god of mortal descent
- the fluidity of the Pantheon is clear
Do piety or a mortal virtues play into a hero ?
No, for example Cleomedes
How does A. D Nock describe heroes ?
‘Gods in a small way’
Perpetuating that they were a local god
Do heroes names mean anything ?
Often a demarcation of power
‘Taraxippos’ meaning horse disturber as it was a mound of earth besides the racecourse at Olympus which disturbed the horses who ran past
It could only be controlled by a sacrifice from the charioteer before the race
Where heroes worshipped for benefit ?
Often yes,
Asclepius and Heracles
It’s in this similarity of function that the blurring of the boundary between god and hero stems from
Where is the site of a cult ?
Sometimes a grave either real or supposed
Contact with them is sometimes polluting and sometimes not
Variations in culture are oscillations on the line between dead mortla and minor gods
It’s not exclusive and it’s fluid
Why are the attic calendars important for our evidence on the worship of heroes?
Depict the full set of sacrifices made to heroes over a year by a particular group in a particular place
For example: ‘For Kephalos, a chosen sheep and for Prokris a table’
Is there a role of cult in identity ?
Yes, in created a sense of identity and reinforced group solidarity
In colonies the founder could provide a focus loyalty for settler recruited perhaps from different parts of the Greek world without shard traditions
‘A patriotic stamp’ Parker (2011)
In Herodotus he describes how at Delphi colonists established a mythical hero in their new foundation
Could hero worship be at family level and the Panhellenic level ?
Yes,
Often worship as a household god and a statue of Heracles stood outside many homes to ward off evil
He could also be worshipped at the Panhellenic level at the sanctuary at Olympus especially by Athletes fro strength and endurance
