Abstract
While the honorary practice in gymnasia has received significant attention in literature, posthumous honors and depictions of youths have not yet been studied comprehensively. The aim of this paper is to discuss this phenomenon. After a brief overview of the known repertoire of sculptural decoration in gymnasia, epigraphic evidence of posthumous honors for youths, who had trained in the gymnasium and died prematurely, is discussed. Focus is then on the identification of sculptures that, according to their context and iconography, may have served as posthumous depictions of youths, among them e.g. the statue of Kleoneikos from Eretria. It is argued that three different iconographic types were available: the naked, ‘heroic’ type, the himatiophoros type, and the herm.