Horse- and chariot-races were a part of funeral games from the Homeric era. The use of a hero's tomb or an altar as the turning-post of a racetrack originates in rituals for the dead. In the "Iliad," Achilles kills Hector in retribution for the death of his friend Patroclus, then drives his chariot around the funeral pyre three times, dragging the Trojan prince's body. This magical encircling may originally have been a binding propitiation of the dead, to assure their successful passage into the afterlife and keep them from returning.