Greek hero cult
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Hero cults were one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion. In Homeric Greek, "hero" refers to the mortal offspring of a human and a god. In Greek religion, a hero held a specific
Ruins of a heroön (hero-shrine) at Sagalassos, Turkey.
Cult of Oedipus on a Lucanian amphora, ca. 380–70 BC (Louvre, CA 308)
Offerings to a deified hero and another deity, depicted on a Greek marble relief ca. 300 BC
Heroön
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A heroön or heroon, also Latinized as heroum, was, in the ancient Greco-Roman world, a shrine dedicated to a hero and used in the practice of hero cult ritual. A heroön was often built over what was t
Greek hero cult
…human and a god. In Greek religion, a hero held a specific designation as a legendary deceased mortal whose memory is honored with ritual worship at a heroön or shrine—typically centered at the hero's burial site—and who, while extraordinarily gifted in his lifetime, was not immortal or as all-powerful as a…
The northwest heroön at Sagalassos, Turkey
The Tomb of Theron, a heroön at Agrigento, Sicily.
Heroön at Paestum, uncovered in 1952