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Aerial View of the Hero Shrine |
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The hero shrine, or heroon, of the baby Opheltes lies on the periphery of the Sanctuary of Zeus. The first distinguishable phase of construction dates to the early Archaic period, or the first half of the 6th century B.C., and coincides with the traditional date for the founding of the Nemean games (573 B.C.). 
Votive Group - Oinochoe and Four Skyphoi [P 1584, P 1593, P 1579, P 1586, P 1578] Evidence for cult activity includes votive deposits, ash, and bone, and is associated with a rectangular, altar-like structure within the enclosure. The heroon of the Hellenistic period is the most easily identifiable today. Its poros foundations probably supported a stone fence rather than a structural wall. Due to its lopsided, pentagonal shape, and its large size, it does not seem to have been roofed. A dedicator or pilgrim would have entered the heroon from the northeast corner through what seems to have been a monumental gate, and would have found several altars and the tomb of the baby Opheltes.
Jorge Bravo and Votive Cup Find
Hero Shrine of Opheltes at Nemea Pausanias 2.15.-23: κυπαρίσσων τε ἄλσος ἐστὶ περὶ τὸν ναόν, καὶ τὸν Ὀφέλτην ἐνταῦθα ὑπὸ τῆς τροφοῦ τεθέντα ἐς τὴν πόαν διαφθαρῆναι λέγουσιν ὑπὸ τοῦ δράκοντος. ... ἐνταῦθα ἔστι μὲν Ὀφέλτου τάφος, περὶ δὲ αὐτὸν θριγκὸς λίθων καὶ ἐντὸς τοῦ περιβόλου βωμοί. There is a sacred grove of cypress trees around the temple [of Zeus], and here they say that Opheltes was placed by his nurse in the grass and killed by the serpent . . . . . Here is the tomb of Opheltes, and a thringos lithon around it, and within the peribolos are altars. See A. Futrell, in Miller, ed., Nemea: A Guide to the Site and Museum (Berkeley and Los Angeles 1990) 104-109 with earlier bibliography (see also pages 24-30 for moveable finds). 
Terracotta Figurine of Baby Opheltes Wearing a Mask
Pausanias 5.13.1-2: ἔστι δὲ ἐντὸς τῆς Ἄλτεως καὶ Πέλοπι ἀποτετμημένον τέμενος· ἡρώων δὲ τῶν ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ τοσοῦτον προτετιμημένος ἐστὶν ὁ Πέλοψ ὑπὸ Ἠλείων ὅσον Ζεὺς θεῶν τῶν ἄλλων. ... καὶ λίθων τε θριγκῷ περιέχεται καὶ δένδρα ἐντὸς πεφυκότα καὶ ἀνδριάντες εἰσὶν ἀνακείμενοι, ἔσο- δος δὲ ἐς αὐτὸ πρὸς δυσμῶν ἐστιν ἡλίου. Within the Altis there is also a temenos dedicated to Pelops. He is as much preferred by the Elians over the other heroes at Olympia as Zeus is over the other gods. . . . It is surrounded by a thringos lithon within which trees have been planted and statues have been dedicated; its entrance is toward the west. See H. Kyrieleis, "Neue Ausgrabungen in Olympia," in Kyrieleis and Coulson, eds., Proceedings of an International Symposium on the Olympic Games (Athens 1992) 19-24, and A. Mallwitz, Olympia und seine Bauten (Munich 1972) 133-137 (with earlier bibliography)
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