This paper seeks to relate the form of the Marathon tumulus to both tomb and hero cult as practiced in Attica in the Archaic period. Distinctions are made among various archaeological manifestations of hero cult and between two senses of the term heros in Archaic Greece. The named warrior heroes of the epic tradition are to be distinguished from the anonymous heroes whose cult was often located in or over Bronze Age tombs. The popularity or prevalence of various kinds of hero and tomb cult can be shown to change considerably between the eighth and early fifth centuries B.C., partly in response to political change. The genealogy of the Marathon tumulus can be traced back to the seventh- and early sixth-century aristocratic funerary complexes with tumulus, central cremation, and offering trench. Such practices seem to be a deliberate evocation of those described in the Iliad. This fact considerably alters our interpretation of the Marathon tumulus, which can now be seen as an example of the appropriation of aristocratic values and symbols to serve the needs of the new democracy.*
