Votive Relief to Achilles and Thetis, about 350 B.C., Marble
78.1 × 132.1 × 7.6 cm (30 3/4 × 52 × 3 in.)
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
The relief above, discovered in Thessaly, gives an example of the cult of a particular (and particularly popular) hero: Achilles. Achilles is pictured on the right, riding in a four-horse chariot with his mother, the goddess Thetis. On the left we see a line of worshippers waiting to greet the hero, wearing the wide-brimmed hats of travellers and accompanied by rams for sacrifice. The inscription beneath the relief gives us some idea of who might have dedicated this object – likely a votive relief in a sanctuary to Achilles, who was born and raised in Thessaly. We can make out the names Lakrates and Gephes – probably the dedicators – as well as a reference to the Achilleides, a religious group and cultic association who claimed descent from Achilles. (A similar group, the Homeridae, said that they were descended from the poet Homer himself.)