The Violent Hero: Heracles in the Greek Imagination

Description

This book uses the mythological hero Heracles as a lens for investigating the nature of heroic violence in archaic and classical Greek literature, from Homer through to Aristophanes. Heracles was famous for his great victories as much as for his notorious failures. Driving each of these acts is his heroic violence, an ambivalent force that can offer communal protection as well as cause grievous harm. Drawing on evidence from epic, lyric poetry, tragedy, and comedy, this work illuminates the strategies used to justify, constrain, and deflate the threatening aspects of violence. The mixed results of these strategies also demonstrate how the figure of Heracles inherently – and stubbornly – resists reform. The diverse character of Heracles’ violent acts reveals an enduring tension in understanding violence: is violence a negative individual trait, that is to say, the manifestation of an internal state of hostility? Or is it one specific means to a preconceived end, rather like an instrument whose employment may or may not be justified? Katherine Lu Hsu explores these evolving attitudes towards individual violence in the ancient Greek world while also shedding light on timeless debates about the nature of violence itself. Cover page Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Dedication Contents Figures Acknowledgments Introduction On Violence On Myth On Heracles 1 Heraclean Force and the Representation of Violence Introduction Heracles as Monster-slayer in Hesiod’s Th eogony The Iliad’s Heracles Conclusion 2 Hero or Monster? Justifying Violence against Geryon Introduction Eliminating the Monstrous: Praising Heracles’ Civilizing Efforts against Geryon Violence Questioned in Stesichorus’ Geryoneis Pindar’s Heracles: Nomos, Justice, and Violence Conclusion 3 Heroic Competition and the Home in Sophocles’ Trachiniae Introduction Heracles and Achelous: A Paradigm of Competition Heracles and Nessus: A Distorted Suitor Competition Heracles at Oechalia: Another Distorted Suitor Competition Iole and Deianeira Vie for Heracles The Death of a Victor Conclusion 4 Coping with Violence Victory and Friendship in Euripides’ Heracles Introduction Violence against Enemies Violence against Friends Violence against the Self Conclusion 5 Heracles the Fool Laughing at Violence Introduction Victory and the Flesh: Renewing Violence through Laughter The Comic Heracles in Euripides’ Alcestis A Polyphony of Genres in Aristophanes’ Frogs Conclusion Conclusion Which Path Did Heracles Choose? Notes References Index