Heroön
A heroön or heroon (plural heroa) (
Description
The Romans and the Greeks practised an extensive and widespread cult of heroes. Heroes played a central role in the life of a polis, giving the city a shared focus for its identity. The cult typically centred on the heroön in which the hero's bones were usually believed to be contained. In a sense, the hero still lived: he was offered meals; he was imagined to be sharing feasts. His allegiance was seen as vitally important to the continued well-being of the city. This led to struggles between Greek cities for control of heroic remains.
Greek literature records how
).
Many examples of heroa can be found around the
A well-preserved Roman heroön from the
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Hero cult association
Heroa sites were often linked to hero cults, due to the variety of different uses for hero cults that they provided. They acted as places of worship, where cult followers could leave grave goods and other worship offerings, and were used as locations where feasts could be held to honor the hero and remember the hero's great feats. These events occurred primarily because of the Greek belief of heroes possessing special abilities that lingered locally even when he died, and it was believed that offerings and worship towards this hero would allow living cult members to tap into this power.[3]
History
Bronze Age and Archaic Greece
The first examples of heroa in Greece were found at
The tradition of building tombs to honor heroes continued from Mycenae into other areas of Greece.[4] This can be seen by the heroön found at Lefkandi in Euboea.[7] This site dates to around 950 BC during the Iron Age.[7] This site differs from earlier sites, as it was built in an apsidal style.[7] This means that one end of the tomb was shaped like a half-circle.[7] In addition, the site is much larger than previous tombs as it reaches up to 50 meters long.[7] The inside of this heroön contains two human remains, which have been cremated and placed in bronze amphoras.[7] One of these remains is the hero himself, who can be identified by the hunting scene found on his amphora, as well as the many swords that were left by his tomb as grave gifts.[7] The other set of human remains at this site is believed to be the hero's wife, who possibly was slaughtered with him when the hero died.[7]
Classical Greece
This idea of using a tholos tomb for heroa continued in Greece even into the Classical Age.
Heroa were common not only on the Greek mainland but also in the
References
- ^ Parkins, Helen (1997). Roman Urbanism. Routledge. p. 198.
- S2CID 247622264.
- ^ Martin, Thomas R. "An Overview of Classical Greek History from Mycenae to Alexander: Hero Cults". Perseus Digital Library. Tufts University.
- ^ a b c Campbell, Gordon (2007). "Heroon". Oxford Reference. Oxford.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Wade, Nicholas (26 October 2015). "Grave of 'Griffin Warrior' at Pylos Could Be a Gateway to Civilizations". The New York Times.
- ^ Waelkens, Marc (July 2010). "Northwest Heroon: Introduction. - Archeology's Interactive Dig". Archaeology Magazine.
- ^ S2CID 161561486.
- ^ "Olympia Heroon". Tufts University Olympics. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023.
- ^ "Tufts University - Perseus Digital Library". Tufts University Perseus Digital Library. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023.
- ^ "Agrigento". Encyclopædia Britannica. 4 April 2013.
External links
