Gli eroi del Trono di Apollo ad Amicle tra apoteosi, immortalità elisia e destino di morte

This paper is part of a wider research project on the figurative program of the Throne of Amyklai and investigates six scenes described by Pausanias in 3.18.11-12: a controversial Hermes Dionysophoros, the introduction of Herakles to Olympus, the delivery of Achilleus to Cheiron, the abduction of Kephalos by Eos, the wedding of Kadmos and Harmonia, and the duel of Achilleus and Memnon. The analysis of the relevant literary and artistic sources shows that a complex texture of mutual references links the heroic and divine protagonists of these scenes. Some heroes, because of their virtue or beauty, ascend to Olympus, while some of them meet death, which causes deep grief to their divine mothers. An implicit comparison is made between their and Hyakinthos’ story, whose death and apotheosis also structures the festive ritual of the Hyakinthia. The set of images under investigation seems to function almost as a hymn to Apollo and Hyakinthos.