Abstract
The study of the first epigraphic attestations of the term ἥρως in dedications supports the hypothesis that the category so named would have emerged in the 6th century. Examples include the hero Ptoios at Akraiphia in Boeotia and the archetypal hero of Rhamnonte in Attica. But the Delian record of the " king and archaegete " Anios shows that the categorization " gods/heroes " is not necessarily so clear-cut at the heart of dedication practice. Indeed, Anios is referred to as theos, " god ", and not as hērōs in the dedications he receives from the 6th century onwards, even though an official inscription from the 4th century will indeed speak of him as " hero archaegete ". This observation calls for the utmost caution when attributing ontologies or even well-circumscribed statuses to the figures of the superhuman world of the Greeks.
