apotropaic. We find it, of course, in the Heroikos as well, in the story of Achilles requesting that a young Trojan girl be left on the beach for him, only to be torn apart limb from limb (56.10). I want to come back to my point of departure: why are laments so important in the cults of Melikertes and Achilles? It seems that in both cases, the songs and the laments are closely linked to the nature of the ritual in honor of these heroes: in both cases, hymns and laments are described as being part of initiatory or secret rites. What are we to make of the (mostly later) authors’ insistence on describing these cults as initiations into mysteries? And what is the link between hero cults in general and such rites? The key to interpreting these allusions in the Heroikos may be hidden in Sophocles 5th century BC tragedy: Oedipus at Colonus. The play describes the death and heroization of Oedipus near the grove of the Eumenides at Colonus. As many have noticed before, and as Calame has recently shown, the establishment of the cult in honor of Oedipus described in Sophocles’ resemble in many ways an initiation into the Eleusinian Mysteries.11 If the link between a hero cult and mysteries can already be attested for the fifth century BC, then, the initiatory nature of the cult of Melikertes in the Roman period as well as the cult of Achilles described in the Heroikos are perhaps not exceptions, or late (Roman) developments, but rather represent a particular strand of hero cult.12 What about initiation and mysteries in the Heroikos in general? I would like to turn back to an episode at the very beginning of the dialogue : “Stranger,” says the vinegrower, “you have not yet even heard the nightingales that sing here both when evening comes and when day begins, just as they do in Attica.” This, of course, is very reminiscent of the chorus’ description of Colonus in Sophocles’ play where the nightingales play an important part:

DOI link for apotropaic. We find it, of course, in the Heroikos as well, in the story of Achilles requesting that a young Trojan girl be left on the beach for him, only to be torn apart limb from limb (56.10). I want to come back to my point of departure: why are laments so important in the cults of Melikertes and Achilles? It seems that in both cases, the songs and the laments are closely linked to the nature of the ritual in honor of these heroes: in both cases, hymns and laments are described as being part of initiatory or secret rites. What are we to make of the (mostly later) authors’ insistence on describing these cults as initiations into mysteries? And what is the link between hero cults in general and such rites? The key to interpreting these allusions in the Heroikos may be hidden in Sophocles 5th century BC tragedy: Oedipus at Colonus. The play describes the death and heroization of Oedipus near the grove of the Eumenides at Colonus. As many have noticed before, and as Calame has recently shown, the establishment of the cult in honor of Oedipus described in Sophocles’ resemble in many ways an initiation into the Eleusinian Mysteries.11 If the link between a hero cult and mysteries can already be attested for the fifth century BC, then, the initiatory nature of the cult of Melikertes in the Roman period as well as the cult of Achilles described in the Heroikos are perhaps not exceptions, or late (Roman) developments, but rather represent a particular strand of hero cult.12 What about initiation and mysteries in the Heroikos in general? I would like to turn back to an episode at the very beginning of the dialogue : “Stranger,” says the vinegrower, “you have not yet even heard the nightingales that sing here both when evening comes and when day begins, just as they do in Attica.” This, of course, is very reminiscent of the chorus’ description of Colonus in Sophocles’ play where the nightingales play an important part:

apotropaic. We find it, of course, in the Heroikos as well, in the story of Achilles requesting that a young Trojan girl be left on the beach for him, only to be torn apart limb from limb (56.10). I want to come back to my point of departure: why are laments so important in the cults of Melikertes and Achilles? It seems that in both cases, the songs and the laments are closely linked to the nature of the ritual in honor of these heroes: in both cases, hymns and laments are described as being part of initiatory or secret rites. What are we to make of the (mostly later) authors’ insistence on describing these cults as initiations into mysteries? And what is the link between hero cults in general and such rites? The key to interpreting these allusions in the Heroikos may be hidden in Sophocles 5th century BC tragedy: Oedipus at Colonus. The play describes the death and heroization of Oedipus near the grove of the Eumenides at Colonus. As many have noticed before, and as Calame has recently shown, the establishment of the cult in honor of Oedipus described in Sophocles’ resemble in many ways an initiation into the Eleusinian Mysteries.11 If the link between a hero cult and mysteries can already be attested for the fifth century BC, then, the initiatory nature of the cult of Melikertes in the Roman period as well as the cult of Achilles described in the Heroikos are perhaps not exceptions, or late (Roman) developments, but rather represent a particular strand of hero cult.12 What about initiation and mysteries in the Heroikos in general? I would like to turn back to an episode at the very beginning of the dialogue : “Stranger,” says the vinegrower, “you have not yet even heard the nightingales that sing here both when evening comes and when day begins, just as they do in Attica.” This, of course, is very reminiscent of the chorus’ description of Colonus in Sophocles’ play where the nightingales play an important part: