Pyre of Heracles
ruins of a Doric temple from the 3rd century BCE
The pyre of Heracles (Greek: Ἡρακλέους Πυρά) are the ruins of a Doric temple from the 3rd century BCE on Mount Oeta, the site where the ancient Greek mythological hero Heracles self-immolated. The story comes from the Greek tragedy, Trachiniae, which was written by the Ancient Greek tragedy writer, Sophocles.
The Myth
The myth begins with Heracles killing the centaur, Nessus, who fell in love with his wife, Deianeira. Upon his death, Nessus gave Deianeira a poisoned cloak that he claimed was a love charm. Not knowing that the cloak was poisoned, Deianeira gives it to Heracles when she hears of his love for Princess Iole, fearing she will lose his favor. The cloak causes Heracles excruciating pain and begins slowly burning his body. The pain is so extreme that he decides the only way to rid himself of it is to die by self-immolation.
Ruins
The ruins are located in what is now the regional unit of Phocis, Greece, where the nearby village of Pyra has been named after the Greek myth. Roman general Manius Acilius Glabrio visited them in 191 BCE.
The area of the pyre was originally excavated in 1920–1921 by Greek archaeologists with additional excavations resuming in 1988. Scholar Lewis Richard Farnell theorized that the myth could be a result of an ancient Eastern tradition of a deity being reborn through fire.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Pyre of Heracles” as ruins of a Doric temple from the 3rd century BCE. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as ruins of a Doric temple from the 3rd century BCE. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q28135305. Authority coordinates are 38.744, 22.306. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1920, 1921 and 1988.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
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Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Pyre of Heracles”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Pyre of Heracles primary sources, Pyre of Heracles archive and Pyre research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
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This entry incorporates text from “Pyre of Heracles” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.