The Oikist Cult: Literary Tradition and Archaeological Evidence: Mythical Founders and Heroic Kings as κτίσται

The colonisation phenomenon and the oikist cult are topics that have been extensively investigated. Specific elaboration processes of narrative plots have contributed to the construction and dissemination of foundational narratives, that appear to be influenced by the mythical-legendary memories transmitted by literary traditions, eventually flowed into historical sources. Concerning the figure of the founders and their important symbolic role in the sphere of cultural memory and collective identity of a community, this contribution focuses on two case studies. The first refers to a legendary mythical founder of literary memory, the siren Parthenope, who helped define the memory and cultural identity of the two settlements linked to this foundation logos. The second case study focuses on some archaeological evidence, such as the mega tumulus of Macedonian royal tombs, that seems to echo some specific styles of “heroic” burials. These peculiar funerary customs of the burial context would seem to suggest that some heroic patterns were deliberately used at the service of the representation of dynastic power legitimacy, conforming to the heroic style of Homeric kings.