The sacrificial rituals of Greek hero cults in the Archaic to the early ...

204 Evidence for sacrifices in hero-cults down to 300 BC
established cult in most Greek cities, the sources are often unwilling to
elaborate on the details. 341 It is therefore interesting to note that the worship
of the war dead is often described in terms referring to honours. The public
honouring of the war dead at Plataiai mentioned by Thucydides has already
been commented upon. 342 The Athenian war dead, who were buried at
public expense in the Kerameikos, are described as receiving honours and
the sources often stress the honour of being buried by the state, more than
the fact that they were also the focus of a continuous cult. Thucydides speaks
only of timai in connection with the funeral. 343 Lysias mentions the public
funeral and the following games and further states that the war dead were
worthy of receiving the same honours as the immortals (taîv a¹taîv timaîv
kaì toùv janájouv timâsjai). 344 In Plato’s Menexenos, the city honours
(tim÷sa) the war dead with a public version of the private funerary rituals
(ta nomizomena), athletic games, horse-races and music. 345 Demosthenes
speaks about the deathless honours ( gårwv timáv) for the war dead, as
well as a public monument, thysiai and games. 346 The importance of the
worship of the war dead in Athens makes it likely that the rituals did not
consist only of o�ferings of clothes and fruit, as was the case of the war
dead buried at Plataiai. It is probable that, in Athens, animal victims were
sacrificed and that timan and timai should be interpreted as referring to
such sacrifices, in particular, since these honours are defined as consisting
of thysiai in one case. 347 The frequent usage of timan and timai may be
understood as playing down the religious aspect in the treatment of the war
dead.
A final example of timai, which may correspond to animal sacrifice, is
found in the Funeral speech by Hypereides. 348 Here, the orator complains
that the Athenians are now forced to bring thysiai to ordinary men and,
while the statues, altars and temples of the gods are left without care, those
belonging to living men are being taken care of. Furthermore, the Athenians
have to honour the servants of these men as heroes (¢sper rwavtimân...
nagkazoménouv). This passage concerns the conditions in Athens in 323 BC,
341 See above, p. 76, n. 248.
342 Thuc. 3.58.
343 Thuc. 2.35.
344 Lys. Epitaph. 80.
345 Pl. Menex. 249b. In Menex. 244a, Plato speaks of thysiai.
346 Dem. Epitaph. 36. Cf. Loraux 1986, 38, on the distinction between the burial of the war
dead, which ensured them eternal remembrance, and the annual sacrifices and games, which
reactivated the initial honours.
347 Dem. Epitaph. 36; cf. Pl. Menex. 244a.
348 Hyp. Epitaph. 21.