hero cult

... ath, the warrior is eligible to become a cult hero who serves as a sacralized ‘attendant’ of the war god in contexts of hero cult. This is the second occurrence of the noun therapōn ... Continue reading

This micro-narrative tells how Protesilaos, who was the first Achaean to die in the Trojan War, was sorely missed by his people back home in his native land of Thessaly. At I.02.70 ... Continue reading

... verb tīmân ‘honor, give honor to’, as at I.12.310), Homeric diction is thereby referring indirectly to the receiving of hero cult by a cult hero; such reception happens in the locali ... Continue reading

... verb tīmân ‘honor, give honor to’, as at I.12.310), Homeric diction is thereby referring indirectly to the receiving of hero cult by a cult hero; such reception happens in the locali ... Continue reading

... ensive role. Such a pattern of antagonism between immortal and mortal, it can be argued, derives from the ideologies of hero cult. The general hostility of the divinity Athena towar ... Continue reading

comment on eukhesthai being used of Hektor, in the context of analysis of how Hektor mirrors Athena (his ritual antagonist), here, with regard to being Dios paisHector seems to be ... Continue reading

Agamemnon in his role as king here is described in a way that goes beyond the epic action of the moment: the idea that he is honored as a god in his community back home evokes the ... Continue reading

... epic hero Aeneas here indicates that there were rituals honoring him as a cult hero, and it may be that such rituals of hero cult were linked with myths about what happened to him af ... Continue reading

... 167–173. It can be said in general that the theme of heroic immortalization is central to myths and rituals related to hero cult, and so the use of the word hēmitheoi ‘demigods’ in ... Continue reading

The objective of the hero Sarpedon, as he declares here at I.12.318 to his fellow warrior Glaukos, is that the two of them must not be akléees ‘without epic glory [kleos]’. The peo ... Continue reading

... lt heroes received from their worshippers primarily the meat of sheep that were sacrificially slaughtered in rituals of hero cult.The reference here to Sarpedon’s diet of mutton in t ... Continue reading

See anchor comment at I.05.077–078.See anchor comment at I.05.077–078.See anchor comment at I.05.077–078. ... Continue reading

The description here of an impending funeral and entombment for Sarpedon is replete with references to hero cult. Some of these references, as we will now see in detail, indicate that the cult hero is destined to be immortalized after death.The descriptio ... Continue reading

... in his role as a cult hero. Here I give an epitome of a far more detailed argumentation in Nagy 2012:60–69. In terms of hero cult, the wording that refers here at I.16.456–457 to a f ... Continue reading

hero’s getting timē from the community, epic vs. cult hero, and Hektor’s statusSee anchor comment at I.05.077–078. See anchor comment at I.05.077–078. ... Continue reading

analysis of pēma to both Patroklos and the Achaeans caused by Patroklos’ death, and so applicable to Achilles’ death, too, and association of Achilles with the theme of griefThe ne ... Continue reading

analysis of stathmos (and klisia and sekos), in the context of the analysis of references to the tomb of Achilles in the IliadIn this compressed pastoral scene, we see at I.18.589 ... Continue reading

The Myrmidons, led by Achilles, ‘feel a longing’ for Patroklos as they mourn him here in lament, and this ‘longing’ is expressed by way of the verb potheîn ‘long for, desire’. The ... Continue reading