HEROES, hritz (Lat. heros, from Ok. ipcus, connected with Lat. servare. Skt. sar, Av. liar, to protect). In the older portions of the Homeric poems the heroes are warriors; in the Odyssey the word has extended its meaning, and denotes any distinguished character of the stories of the past. In the later time a third meaning prevails, and the 'heroes' are the semi-divine objects of worship. To such heroes the later noble families, or even whole communities, traced their origin, and it seems probable that the original use of the word was to denote the souls of the blessed ancestors. These 'heroes' were commonly regarded as sprung from the union of a god and a mortal. Their cult ritual was like that of the gods, but natu rally had closest resemblance to that of the chthonic divinities. Their worship was wide spread, and it seems very clear that in the large majority of cases those• worshiped in historic times as heroes were originally gods, who had been superseded by the growth of the great per sonal gods. It was natural that eminent men, who had seemed to possess somewhat of the divine essence, should receive reverence as super natural beings after death. Such are the eases of Brasidas, Themistoeles. and in later times some of the founders of philosophical schools, as Epicurus. From this it seems to
have been easy to worship the living, as in the ease of Alexander and some of his successors, who were honored as 'savior gods' (Geo2 aurfipeel. In Thrace the conception of the heroized dead as heavenly horsemen is common, but the word `hero' has become the name of a mighty god, to whom dedications are frequent. For the best brief account of the growth and character of the hero-worship in Greece, consult: Usenet., Oot ternamen (Bonn. 1S96) more elaborate. but in their discussion less satisfactory. Rohde. Psyrhe (2d ed.. Freiburg. 1898)c Deneken, in Roscher.
Lexi•on der gricehisehen and •iimisehen My thologic (Leipzig, ISS6-90), with full collection of authorities: and Enrtwiingler, Sammlung Sabouroff, vol. 1. (Berlin, 1883).
HEROIDES, 11-1.51-dijz. An early work of Ovid. a collection of twenty fictitious love-letters sent by noble women of the olden time to their estranged husbands or lovers. The theme in all is the same. but their romantic nature and dramatic setting have placed them among the most popular of Ovid's works. The last six of the epistles are believed to be the work of imitators.