Spartan identity and Orestes’ “repatriation”

Abstract

This study will examine how the transferal of Orestes’ bones from Tegea to Sparta led to the appropriation of an identity which is traced back to the pre-Doric past and will discuss the significance it held for the Spartans and their city. Much of the hero’s power resided in the bones; for that reason it was essential that a city or sanctuary have possession of the bones. The aim of this study is to make evident that the “repatriation” of Orestes was not associated exclusively with the external policy of the city.