Parker3

Mountain Peaks and Tombs of Heroes

1. Mountains (8th century to 7th century BCE)

A. Precincts of Zeus

1. Zeus, as god of mountains, has shrines of his own on
large mountains far from human occupancy.

2. Attic mountaintop shrines were never equipped with
large or elaborate buildings.

B. Mountains were symbolic centers of a territory and
brought people together.

1. People in the territory of Rhodes honored Zeus Atabyrios
before Rhodes was a state.

C. Some cults had specific agricultural appeal

1. Zeus Ombrios, ‘of rain’, was called on in seasons of
drought.

2. Zeus Semios, ‘of signs’, was associated with cloud
formations around mountains as a symbol of rain.

D. Petitions to Zeus

1. Mountains were seen as symbols of the power of the
“highest of lords. ” People would go to the tops of mountains
to petition Zeus.

2. On Mount Hymettus, worshipers would leave behind writing
and then boast that they wrote it themselves.

E. No absolute conclusions

1. Cannot identify the original worshiping group of any
of the mountain shrines.

2. All mountain shrines belonged to Zeus and were linked
to agriculture.

3. Could be shrines that met all needs as principal sites
of religious activity in early centuries.

11. Hero Cults (8th century to 7th century BCE)

A. Cult association with grave sites

1. Offerings found in dromoi of Mycenaean tombs

2. People met for sacrificial meals close to graveyards.

B. Cults and their association with literary heroes

1. There is little evidence to believe hero-cults are
linked to literary heroes.

A. No inscriptions bearing identifications have been
found in sites.

2. Phrontis, Menelaus’ steersman in the Odyssey, died
and was buried at Sunium.

There is evidence of a real cult in Sunium, where evidence
has been found from a plaque showing a ship and helmsman.

A. This could be an allusion to the cult of Phrontis at
Sunium.

B. Could have encouraged a cult to form.

3. In Eleusis there is a group of six graves with an enclosure,
a way to show respect, around it.

1. These graves could be the six of Seven against Thebes,
who were buried at Eleusis.

4. The influence of Homer

A. There are a few references to hero-cult in Homer and
therefore a poet cannot cause a “phenomenon” that he reflects
in his epics.

B. Homer could represent the culmination of hero-cults,
but not the beginning of them.

C. Many heroes are not featured in Homer.

C. Politics and Hero-Cults

1. With the rise of the city-state, new forms of political
self-assertion are necessary. Therefore, the important men of the city
invent a “category” of special heroes who, if honored, will be
“active for the collective good.” This implies that the important
men of the city are also men like the heroes.

2. Connection between dead aristocrats and the cults to
heroes

3. Heroes become clients to the great and good.

D. Geography of Heroes

1. There is a great link between the hero and the land.

2. Cults are a way communities can claim symbolic possession
to lands and territories.

3. Heroes are specific to certain groups, and the cult
of certain heroes give thegroup a sense of identity.

E. Little Explanation

1. The diversity of political contexts associated with
hero-cults makes it harder to find a simple explanation for their popularity.