The Hero Cults of Sparta

Local Religion in a Greek City

Dr Nicolette A. Pavlides (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

304 Seiten

2025
Bloomsbury Academic (Verlag)
978-1-350-19808-1 (ISBN)

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This book examines the hero-cults of Sparta on the basis of the archaeological and literary sources. Nicolette Pavlides explores the local idiosyncrasies of a pan-Hellenic phenomenon, which itself can help us understand the place and function of heroes in Greek religion. Although it has long been noted that hero-cult was especially popular in Sparta, there is little known about the cults, both in terms of material evidence and the historical context for their popularity. The evidence from the cult of Helen and Menelaos at the Menelaion, the worship of Agamemnon and Alexandra/Kassandra, the Dioskouroi, and others who remain anonymous to us, is viewed as a local phenomenon reflective of the developing communal and social consciousness of the polis.

What is more, through an analysis of the typology of cults, it is concluded that in Sparta, the boundaries of the divine/heroic/mortal were fluid, which allowed a great variation in the expression of cults. The votive patterns, topography, and architectural evidence permit an analysis of the kinds of offerings to hero-cults and an evaluation of the architecture that housed such cults. Due to the material and spatial distribution of the votive deposits, it is argued that Sparta had a large number of hero shrines scattered throughout the polis, which attests to an enthusiastic and long-lasting local votive practice at a popular level.

Nicolette A. Pavlides is Lecturer in Greek Art and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh, UK. Her research focuses on Spartan religious practices, in particular hero cults, as well as the role of sanctuaries in the relationship between Sparta and the perioikic communities of Laconia and Messenia.

List of Figures
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Map

Introduction
Setting the stage: the Archaic period
Book structure

Chapter 1: Early Heroes and Hero Cult

Chapter 2: Heroic Sites in Sparta: The Archaeological Evidence

Chapter 3: The Hero Shrines: Votives, Architectural Evidence, Topography

Chapter 4: Heroes and Immortality

Chapter 5: Honouring the Dead

Chapter 6: Burials and Hero Cult: Three Case Studies

Conclusion

Bibliography
Index

Erscheinungsdatum	06.10.2023
Zusatzinfo	22 bw illus
Verlagsort	London
Sprache	englisch
Maße	156 x 234 mm
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Archäologie
	Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Vor- und Frühgeschichte
	Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Altertum / Antike
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie
ISBN-10	1-350-19808-0 / 1350198080
ISBN-13	978-1-350-19808-1 / 9781350198081
Zustand	Neuware