From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordHērōs is a hero, including a recipient of religious observance distinct from ordinary living humans.
- In StobaeusThe civic analogy names rites for heroes between sacrifices to gods and libations for the dead.
- In this edition“Hero” needs its ancient religious scope here, rather than merely an admirable protagonist.
- A place to beginHeroes receive rites within the city’s religious order.
- English renderings
- hero
Meaning
Hērōs is a hero, including a recipient of religious observance distinct from ordinary living humans.
Use in the book
The civic analogy names rites for heroes between sacrifices to gods and libations for the dead. A later classification lists heroes among higher kinds alongside gods, angels, and daimons. The two uses show cultic and classificatory roles, which should not be treated as an identical comprehensive taxonomy.
Places to read
Translation in this edition
“Hero” needs its ancient religious scope here, rather than merely an admirable protagonist.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 43–44, 378. The passages preserve different explanatory settings: civic observance and a survey of philosophical accounts of descent.