HERO. — From the Greek ἠρως «lord, prince», of uncertain etymology, the term generally denotes one who rises above others in strength, power, and nobility. The figure of the hero is found in the mythology and cult of all peoples, for it responds to the need to concentrate in a human being, sublimated into the realm of divinity, the history and character of the human group that shaped him.
In general, the hero is a man who accomplishes glorious and difficult deeds for the benefit of his group, deeds which after his death earn him the veneration that surrounds his tomb, a place of cult and seat of oracles. That he is originally a human being is demonstrated by the fact that the type of cult accorded to him is that proper to the dead and to chthonic deities: namely, a propitiatory sacrifice (ἐννυχιακός), performed at night, not on an altar but on a low mound of earth (ἐννυχιακός) resembling the domestic hearth, slaughtering black victims turned with their muzzles to the ground and burning the victim entirely (holocaust). The difference from funeral ritual lies in the purpose: for the dead, it is to sustain the shadowy life by sprinkling them with the victim’s blood; for heroes, it is to secure benefits for those who perform II.
Greece is the country that most emphasized the cult of heroes, born of faith in the survival of those great spirits who in life were benefactors of their group. The influence radiating from their tombs is of two kinds: either salutary (Asclepius, Alcmene, Iarbas) or mantic (Calchas, Tiresias, Glaucus, Amphiaraus, Trophonius). The Delphic sanctuary regulated the cult of heroes insofar as it was responsible for overseeing the spread of colonies, fixing the cult to be paid to the founding hero (holocaust). At Delphi an annual festival was celebrated in honor of heroes, that is, the dead of Delphi (ἠρως, Plut., Quaest. gr., 12).
Even in artistic representation, the hero is a deified ancestor; he is depicted with the objects he used in life: horse, dog, weapons, or symbolized by a serpent, the preeminent iconic animal. His relics, real or fictitious, are the radiating center of his power.
The hero is thus a man deified after death because of his deeds: this is the ascending process of heroization, supported by E. Rohde, U. Wilamowitz, M. Nilsson. But there has also been a descending process: when certain deities are reduced to the level of demigods or heroes due to the spread of newer, more comprehensive and universal deities, a process that occurred alongside the greater unification of the Greek tribes (E. Meier, H. Usener, G. De Sanctis); this is the case of Agamemnon, Menelaus, Neleus. The spread of the Homeric epic contributed greatly to this degradation.
An exception to this double process of elevation or reduction is the case of myths proper to primitive peoples with totemic social organization. These peoples recognize their mythical ancestor generally in an animal (wolf, kangaroo, crow, mantis) which is said to have performed extraordinary deeds, guiding the tribe to its dwelling place, establishing tribal laws, etc. The emblem of this mythical ancestor adorns the entrance to the village, is reproduced on weapons or the bodies of warriors; the living species representing it is subject to special taboos and becomes the center of a great festival aimed at the preservation and growth of the tribe.
The cult of heroes has always been favored among human groups, because their figure is closer to men than that of the gods.
In Greece, illustrious dead, founders of colonies, political founders or restorers of cities, founders of a cult association or a philosophical school, etc., are included among heroes.
With the Hellenistic age, which facilitated the rise of new cult associations, private heroes also began to be venerated, until this title, as attested by inscriptions of the period, came to be synonymous with the deceased.