Il “monumento degli Eroi Eponimi” ad Atene : dati per una rilettura

The Monument of the Eponymous Heroes in Athens has been identified with the long base discovered during the American excavations in the southwestern sector of the Agora of Athens, opposite the Metroon. Through detailed analysis and stratigraphic excavations of the still visible remains, scholars have managed to shed light on the history and structural evolution of this monument from the second half of the fourth century BC until the time of Hadrian. The location of the earlier monument mentioned in literary sources, however, is still hypothetical. It has been identified with the remains underlying the Middle Stoa. The present paper takes advantage of the recent bloom of studies on various aspects of the democratic constitution of Athens to provide a critical analysis of both literary and epigraphic sources relative to the Eponymous Heroes and a renewed assessment of some archaeological data. This assessment may help to expand the framework of the various hypotheses put forward so far about the appearance of this building, its location, its function, and its political significance.