Cultes héroïques et cultes divins aux IVe et IIIe siècles av. J.-C. Tradition, innovation et reflets littéraires

One of the most fruitful approaches in the study of ruler cults has been to outline the interactions between heroic and divine cults that resulted from the reuse or the modification of past anthropological and political patterns, especially during the fifth and fourth centuries BC (and also, to some extent, in the third century BC). In a context of religious transformations, the introduction of the divine cult for Alexander the Great was not homogeneous but was accompanied by various phenomena of opposition and adaptation imposed by civic and regional traditions. Furthermore, ancient intellectuals were often reluctant regarding— or even adverse to—these timai, as can be noted in the position of Agatharchides. In this respect, the significance of the Hiera anagraphe by Euhemeros of Messana is not easy to define, despite the fact that it is generally considered to be a legitimization of the divine cult, and that its importance had been well established in the Republican and Imperial Rome. However, in order to fully understand the meaning of this work, its literary and fictional aspects should not be underestimated, nor should be the historical context in which Euhemeros evolved, as a philos of Cassander.