Greek Hero Cult Research Paper

The Hero Cult and Its Influence on The Birth of the Polis

One of the most interesting facets of the ancient Greek religion was the hero cult. A hero in this time was considered to be greater than a human but less than a god. The hero cult essentially united a group of unrelated people in a kin-like manner, which in turn made the bond between these individuals even stronger. The archeological evidence for the hero cult begins around the second half of the 8th century BC (Seaford, 109). On an unrelated note, the term polis in ancient Greece was defined to be the body of citizens, which is why polis is often translated to city-state. The interesting fact concerning these two is that the polis first emerged in the Archaic period, which
The first story regards early Megara in a time when the Megarians decided to destroy the monarchy and use elected magistrates who “obey each other in turn”. The Delphic Apollo told one of the magistrates that their new society would be prosperous if the counsel regarded the majority. The Megaran society took the word majority to mean the deceased, and built a chamber, which incorporate a tomb of heroes (Seaford, 112). The visible representation of the heroic dead as the majority created a sort of social unity in this society, helping to then focus the Megarians’ goals collectively and form a cohesive
The Greek hero cult was used in this day and age to establish territorial claims based on specific heroes of the area. The nature of the hero cult itself makes it a prime method to establish claims to territory and to serve as a symbol of the territory’s identity. The localization of the specific hero cults (around the tomb) made it to where the buried hero became the “protector” of that particular area (McCauley). The importance of heroes as symbols of territorial rights can be seen as a reason for inter-polis rivalry (Athens, Sparta, etc.). The transfer of bones from different city-states can be seen as evidence of this assumption. For example, the transfer of bones of Orestes from Tegea to Sparta can be seen as Sparta’s efforts to dominate Tegea, suggesting that the hero-cult possessed power even after the establishment of the Greek polis (McCauley). The transfer of bones of Theseus from Scyros to Athens can also be looked at in the same manner. It was only when the political realities of Greece became larger than the inter-polis rivalries (Athens v. Sparta) that the hero cults stopped being used in this