Heroon

The erroneously-named Tomb of Theron, a heroon at Agrigento, Sicily

A heroon (plural heroa, also called a heroum) was a shrine dedicated to an ancient Greek or Roman hero and was used for the commemoration or worship of the hero. It was often erected over his supposed tomb or cenotaph.

Many examples of heroa can be found around the tholos tombs of Mycenaean Greece and in or near the sacred areas of a number of Greek cities around the Mediterranean. A particularly well-preserved example, the so-called Tomb of Theron, can be found at Agrigento in Sicily. Another notable one, at Vergina in Greek Macedonia (the ancient city of Aigai), is thought to have been dedicated to the worship of the family of Alexander the Great and may have housed the cult statue of Alexander's father, Philip II of Macedon.

External links

"[The 'heroon' at Aigai]", Hellenic Macedonia

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