Excavations at Nemea IV THE SHRINE OF OPHELTES JORGE J. BRAVO III WITH A CONTRIBUTION BY MICHAEL MACKINNON UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Excavations at Nemea IV Bronze figurine of the hero Opheltes (Cat. 271). Excavations at Nemea IV THE SHRINE OF OPHELTES JORGE J. BRAVO III WITH A CONTRIBUTION BY MICHAEL MACKINNON UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS The publisher and the University of California Press Foundation gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Joan Palevsky Imprint in Classical Literature. Publication of this book has been aided by a grant from the von Bothmer Publication Fund of the Archaeological Institute of America. University of California Press Oakland, California © 2018 by the Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Bravo, Jorge J., III, 1968- author. | MacKinnon, Michael R. (Michael Ross), 1966- contributor. Title: Excavations at Nemea IV : the shrine of Opheltes / Jorge J. Bravo III; with a contribution by Michael MacKinnon. Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017045094 | ISBN 9780520294929 (cloth) Subjects: LCSH: Hero worship—Greece. | Cults—Greece. | Temple of Zeus (Nemea, Greece) | Excavations (Archaeology)—Greece. | Greece—Antiquities. Classification: LCC BL815.H47 B73 2018 | DDC 938/.8—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017045094 22 21 20 19 18 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R 1997) (Permanence of Paper).∞ To Theodore D. Papalexopoulos, Founder and First President of the support organization Opheltes, the Friend of Nemea CONTENTS Preface and Acknowledgments ix List of Illustrations xiii List of Tables xxiii Selected Bibliography and Abbreviations xxv Specialized Terminology and Abbreviations Used in the Text and Appendices xli Elevations, Grid References, and Measurements xliii Introduction 1 CHAPTER ONE The Physical Remains 3 CHAPTER TWO The Faunal Remains from the Hero Shrine 79 MICHAEL MACKINNON CHAPTER THREE The Myth of Opheltes and the Origin of the Nemean Games 101 CHAPTER FOUR Representations of the Hero Opheltes in Art 141 CHAPTER FIVE The Shrine of Opheltes in the Context of Greek Hero Cult 171 Appendix A: Catalogue of Artifacts 183 Appendix B: The Curse Tablets from the Hero Shrine 297 Appendix C: Testimonia on the Myth and Cult of Opheltes and the Nemean Games 323 Index of Subjects, Ancient People and Places, and Modern Scholars 349 Index of Ancient Sources 373 Index of Inventoried Finds from the Nemea Excavations Mentioned in This Volume 377 PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I. In 1979, more than a third of a century ago, parts turned into advantage because the studies in the of the north and west wall of a structure began to meantime had enabled a more precise defini- emerge from the soil of Nemea. Its true nature was tion of issues to be investigated in the renewed not understood initially, and it was then thought to work, and because there had emerged a student be a roofed building, perhaps a palaistra.1 in the Graduate Program in Ancient History and The following year, thanks in large part to a Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of detour of the modern road that led to Vrachati California whose interests and talents converged on the Gulf of Corinth, it was possible to define on hero worship in general, and specifically on the structure as an open-air shrine, in the form Opheltes. of a lopsided pentagon.2 Because of the discover- It is now nearly twenty years since Jorge Bravo ies within, its function as a hero shrine could be undertook the resumed excavation of the remains suggested. at Nemea, and the resulting study has culminated The excavators during these years were, in in this volume, which will, I believe, constitute a chronological order, Tom Knight, Chris Simon, lasting contribution to our knowledge of ancient John McEnroe, Larry Ball, and Carol Hershenson. hero worship and the role of death in the games of Photography was carried out by James Parker, ancient Greece. Those games can now be under- Craig Mauzy, Katherine Patey, and Christina stood as an affirmation of life, and of its continua- Malango; architectural recording was the work of tion, in the face of death. They are a symbol of the the undersigned, James McLane, and Aikaterini undying quest by mortals for immortality. Skleri; conservation by Phyllis Graham, Patricia Felch, and Monica Rose Smith. The Director of Stephen G. Miller Excavations during those years was assisted by Stella G. Miller. Each of these people made a contribution to the discovery and preservation of much of the material in the following pages. II. The present study is based on the results of But the identification of the hero who had been numerous seasons of excavation conducted in and worshiped in the shrine as Opheltes had to await around the Heroön of Opheltes from 1979 to 2001. further study and was only formally proposed It combines an examination of the archaeological nearly a decade after the suspension of excava- remains with an analysis of the testimony about tions.3 Nearly another decade passed before ex- the myth and cult of the hero preserved in di- cavations could be resumed in 1997. The delay verse literary and artistic sources. The value of this study resides in the fact that the Heroön is one of 1 Hesperia 1980, 194 and 197. the best archaeologically documented examples of 2 Hesperia 1981, 46 n. 4 and 60–65. Greek hero cult that we currently possess from the 3 Guide, 109–110. Archaic, Classical, and Early Hellenistic periods; ix x PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS it is therefore positioned to make an important with whom I have personally worked are Elena contribution to the study of this aspect of ancient Sheehan, Angelique Sideris, Christine Venee Greek religion. Call-Ferrer, Moe Nadel, and Craig Mauzy. In Over the many years I have devoted to think- addition to the Director’s own work on the state ing about Opheltes and his shrine, I have relied plans, architects who made contributions include on many forms of assistance from individuals and Stefan Buerger, Dimitra Katsota, Lorin Culver, institutions, to whom I owe a sizable debt of grat- Alison McDavid, and Katerina Skleri. Unless oth- itude. I owe my greatest thanks to Stephen G. erwise noted, all the illustrations in the present Miller, former Director of the Nemea Excavations volume derive from their work and are provided and my esteemed professor at the University of courtesy of the Nemea Excavation Archives of the California at Berkeley. In 1996, aware of my de- University of California, Berkeley. veloping interest in hero cult, he offered me the In planning for the eventual publication of the richly rewarding opportunity to supervise the remains of the Heroön, it was clear to me that the excavations that would resume in 1997 in the abundant faunal material that had been collected Heroön of Opheltes at Nemea, thus planting the by excavators before me could shed important light seed for the project that bears fruit in this present on the rituals conducted in honor of Opheltes, and work. so I am especially grateful to Michael MacKinnon While supervising excavation work from 1997 of the University of Winnipeg for accepting the to 2001, I benefited from having dedicated teams invitation to study those remains; as expected, our of workmen, and I wish to express special thanks understanding of the shrine has profited greatly to Vassilios Papoutses, who served as foreman of from his work, as will be clear from the chapter he my teams, for bringing his accumulated experi- contributes here. ence, wisdom, patience, and sense of humor to our In preparing the Catalogue, I was able to ex- work on many a hot day. In those years there were amine comparable material from other excava- also other trench supervisors whose results are tions with the permission and assistance of the included in my study of the Heroön and its envi- Fourth Ephoreia of Antiquities in Nauplion, the rons: Dylan Sailor, Nikolaos Poulopoulos, Tanya American School of Classical Studies in Athens, Szafranski, Barbara Carder, Rebecca Karberg, and the British School at Athens, and the École the Director himself. Française d’Athènes. I also want to thank Dr. I also owe thanks to the Nemea guards, es- Jörg Rambach, who supervised excavations at the pecially to the successive head guards, Andreas Pelopion in Olympia from 1987 to 1994 under the Vakrinakes and Maro Nikitatou, for their assis- direction of Dr. Helmut Kyrieleis, for discussing tance and flexibility with regard to my research in the results of that work with me. the Nemea Museum, a courtesy that has continued While a student at Berkeley, I received valuable to this day whenever I have needed to return to assistance from members of the staff of the Nemea Nemea for further study of the excavated remains. Archives. Frank Cope deserves first mention Finally, I want to thank the American School among them, followed by Gloria Bath, Clarice of Classical Studies at Athens and the Hellenic Major, and Emily Munro Haug. I also want to Ministry of Culture (now Ministry of Culture thank Kim Shelton, the present Director of the and Sport), with whose permission and support, as Nemea Center for Classical Archaeology, for giv- always, the Nemea Excavations proceeded. ing of her own time and energy in subsequent Many fellow staff members of the Nemea years to facilitate my access to materials at Nemea Excavations have contributed their technical ex- and Berkeley and to offer helpful comments on pertise to this project. For conservation work I my work.