Publication at Faculty of Arts |
2017
Abstract
Judging from his complex iconography on the Greco-Bactrian coins, Heracles ranked among the most popular and highly esteemed divine or semi-divine personages worshiped in Hellenistic Bactria. Introduced by Alexander the Great himself, he gained seemingly much popularity under Euthydemus I and his successors, rivalling Athena and even Zeus.
Does it reflect the real folk popularity of the hero, or just the degree of propaganda attributed to him by the Greco-Macedonian rulers? This paper aims to examine, what was the meaning of this and other "warmonger" heroes, such as Dioscuri, for the Greek and native population of Bactria.