Mapping apotheosis: What does a comparative analysis of Pausanias' depictions of apotheosis accounts reveal about the formulaic structure, cultural significance, and archaeological visibility of hero-worship across time?

This thesis, Mapping Apotheosis: What Does a Comparative Analysis of Pausanias’ Apotheosis Accounts Reveal About the Formulaic Structure, Cultural Significance, and Archaeological Visibility of Hero Worship Across Time?, investigates the phenomenon of apotheosis in ancient Greek religion through a comparative analysis of Pausanias’ Description of Greece. It argues that Pausanias presents divine elevation not as isolated mythic events but as a patterned and evolving process negotiated through narrative, ritual, and spatial expression. By analysing his accounts alongside earlier literary and archaeological evidence, the study establishes a structural framework, the “Divine Formula”, which identifies recurring motifs through which mortals become divine: crisis, divine intervention, and posthumous elevation. Five case studies of apotheosis form the core of this analysis: Hyacinthus, Melicertes and Ino, Castor and Polydeuces, Trophonius, and Amphiaraus. Each represents a distinct mode of transformation, from erotic grief and familial sacrifice to chthonic descent and prophetic revelation. In Pausanias’ portrayal of Hyacinthus, architectural integration of tomb and altar at Amyclae manifests a theology of mourning transfigured into worship. The apotheosis of Melicertes and Ino reveal the sea as a liminal site of purification and rebirth, where maternal tragedy is sanctified through maritime cult. The Dioscuri embody fraternal devotion and cosmic balance, their alternating immortality reflecting both theological duality and the perpetuation of heroic identity through cult. In the cases of Trophonius and Amphiaraus, descent rather than ascent becomes the vector of divinisation; their transformation through chthonic architecture and oracle practice demonstrates how space, ritual, and theology coalesced to perpetuate divine presence. Through close literary comparison with sources such as Homer, Pindar, Apollodorus, and Ovid, and correlation with archaeological evidence from Amyclae, Isthmia, Lebadeia, and Oropos, this study demonstrates how Pausanias reinterprets inherited myths to construct a coherent theology of apotheosis suited to the religious landscape of Greece in the Second Century. His selective synthesis of myth and monument reveals a dynamic understanding of divinity, one rooted in human experience, local cult, and the continual dialogue between memory and material form. Ultimately, this thesis contributes a new analytical vocabulary for understanding Greek hero cults, showing that apotheosis, in Pausanias’ vision, is not a singular ascent to godhood but a ritualised continuum where mortal virtue, space, and story converge to define the divine.

Publisher

University of Galway

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CC BY-NC-ND

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University of Galway Theses (Research Masters Theses)