Abstract
After dedications, ritual norms form the second documentary aspect of the study of heroes and heroines, especially in Attica in the Classical period. Heroes and heroines are particularly present at the level of demes and other locally rooted groups. The identity of these various communities is based on that of a hero, whether anonymous, determined by his place of worship or bearing an anthroponym. But despite the title of hērōs explicitly attributed to some of these cult figures, there is nothing to firmly distinguish them from certain locally honored theoi. Thus, a cult figure called HērōsIatros, " Hero doctor ", in various places in Athens, may be referred to as a theos in an inscription that administers the property of his shrine. This is the phenomenon already identified for the " hero " délien Anios, called theos by some of his dedicators. When a heroic figure is honored independently of a tomb, he or she can easily be culturally sucked into the divine sphere.
