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Lecture 1: The Concept of the
Hero in Greek Civilization
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A) Pausanias, Description of Greece 6.9.6-8: At the Festival previous to this it is said that Kleomedes of Astypalaea killed Iccus of Epidaurus during a boxing match. On being convicted by the umpires of foul play and being deprived of the prize he became mad through grief and returned to Astypalaea. Attacking a school there of about sixty children he pulled down the pillar which held up the roof. This fell upon the children, and Kleomedes, pelted with stones by the citizens, took refuge in the sanctuary of Athena. He entered a chest standing in the sanctuary and drew down the lid. The Astypalaeans toiled in vain in their attempts to open the chest. At last, however, they broke open the boards of the chest, but found no Kleomedes, either alive or dead. So they sent envoys to Delphi to ask what had happened to Kleomedes. The response given by the Pythian priestess was, they say, as follows:Most recent of heroes is Kleomedes of Astypalaea;
Honor him with sacrifices; for he is no longer a mortal.So from this time have the Astypalaeans paid honors to Kleomedes as to a hero.
B) Iliad 9.410-416 (Achilles is speaking): My mother Thetis tells me that there are two ways in which I may meet my end [telos]. If I stay here and fight, I shall not have a return [nostos] alive but my glory [kleos] will be imperishable [aphthiton]: whereas if I go home my name [kleos] will perish, but it will be long before the end [telos] shall take me.
C) Iliad 19.76-144: Then Agamemnon spoke, rising in his place, and not going into the middle of the assembly. "Danaan heroes," said he, "attendants [therapontes] of Ares, it is well to listen when a man stands up to speak, and it is not seemly to interrupt him, or it will go hard even with a practiced speaker. Who can either hear or speak in an uproar? Even the finest orator will be disconcerted by it. I will expound to the son of Peleus, and do you other Achaeans heed me and mark me well. Often have the Achaeans spoken to me of this matter and upbraided me, but it was not I who was responsible [aitios]: Zeus, and Fate, and the Erinys that walks in darkness afflicted me with derangement [atê] when we were assembled on the day that I took from Achilles the prize that had been awarded to him. What could I do? All things are in the hand of heaven, and Atê, eldest of Zeus' daughters, shuts men's eyes to their destruction. She walks delicately, not on the solid earth, but hovers over the heads of men to make them stumble or to ensnare them.
[95] "Time was when she deceived Zeus himself, who they say is greatest whether of gods or men; for Hera, woman though she was, beguiled him on the day when Alkmene was to bring forth mighty Herakles in the fair city of Thebes. He told it out among the gods saying, 'Hear me all gods and goddesses, that I may speak even as I am minded; this day shall an Eileithuia, helper of women who are in labor, bring a man child into the world who shall be lord over all that dwell about him who are of my blood and lineage.' Then said Hera all crafty and full of guile, 'You will play false, and will not hold to your word. Swear me, O Olympian, swear me a great oath, that he who shall this day fall between the feet of a woman, shall be lord over all that dwell about him who are of your blood and lineage.'
[112] "Thus she spoke, and Zeus suspected her not, but swore the great oath, to his much ruing thereafter. For Hera darted down from the high summit of Olympus, and went in haste to Achaean Argos where she knew that the noble wife of Sthenelos son of Perseus then was. She being with child and in her seventh month, Hera brought the child to birth though there was a month still wanting, but she stayed the offspring of Alkmene, and kept back the Eileithuiai. Then she went to tell Zeus the son of Kronos, and said, 'Father Zeus, lord of the lightning - I have a word for your ear. There is a fine child born this day, Eurystheus, son to Sthenelos the son of Perseus; he is of your lineage; it is well, therefore, that he should reign over the Argives.'
[125] "At this Zeus felt grief [akhos] to the very quick, and in his rage he caught Atê by the hair, and swore a great oath that never should she again invade starry heaven and Olympus, for she was the bane of all. Then he whirled her round with a twist of his hand, and flung her down from heaven so that she fell on to the fields of mortal men; and he was ever angry with her when he saw his son groaning under the cruel labors [athloi] that Eurystheus laid upon him. Even so did I grieve when mighty Hektor was killing the Argives at their ships, and all the time I kept thinking of Atê who had so harmed me. I was blind, and Zeus robbed me of my reason; I will now make atonement, and will add much treasure by way of amends. Go, therefore, into battle, you and your people with you. I will give you all that Odysseus offered you yesterday in your tents: or if it so please you, wait, though you want to fight at once, and my attendants [therapontes] shall bring the gifts from my ship, that you may see whether what I give you is enough."
D) Euripides Herakles 348ff
The lament for Linos after the
song for success Phoibos sings,
drawing his golden plectron 350
over the beautiful voiced seven string lyre [kithara].
But I sing of the one who went below the earth
Whether I call him the son of Zeus
Or child of Amphitryon
I wish to sing a crown of his 355
toils through eulogy,
the striving for excellence [aretê] of his labors [ponoi]
are a glory to the dead.
First the sacred forest of Zeus he cleared
And he slew the lion 360
When over his manly limbs the victor wore
The tawny beast's shaggy hide,
Terrific with its yawning jaws upon his head.
Next with many a shaft winged
from his fatal bow, he slew the savage 365
mountain band of Centaurs
and laid the bleeding monsters low, ...E) Euripides Herakles 425ff
He won prizes in many other races
And glorious conquest crowned his brow;
But now, his last of toils [ponoi], he sailed to Hades'
realms below...F) Euripides Herakles 1015ff
there he lies, / Wretched, having slain his sons and wife, / Not in a blessed [eudaimôn] repose; I know of no mortal / who is more wretched in his ordeals [athlos].G) Pindar, Olympian 8.1-18
For Alcimedon of Aegina, Boys' Wrestling, 460 B. C. (trans. by Diane Svarlien)
Mother of golden-crowned contests [athlos], Olympia, queen of truth! where prophets, judging from burnt sacrifices, inquire of Zeus of the flashing thunderbolt, if he has any message to give concerning men [5] whose spirits are seeking to attain great excellence [aretê] and a breathing-space from toils.Accomplishment is granted to the prayers of men in gratitude [kharis] for their piety. Well-wooded grove of Pisa beside the Alpheus, [10] welcome this victory-procession and the garland we bring to the victor; the man who is attended by your splendid prize of honor has great glory [kleos] forever.
Read the on-line edition of Gregory Nagy's Best of the Achaeans: Concepts of the Hero in Archaic Greek Poetry (Baltimore, 1979) from the Johns Hopkins University Press.Review the life and labors of Herakles on the Perseus Project's Hercules: Greece's Greatest Hero. The labors of Herakles were treated in several tragedies (including the Trachinian Women of Sophocles and the Herakles of Eurpides) and they were summarized in Apollodorus' handbook of Greek mythology, all available in on-line editions from the Perseus Project.
The 2004 Olympics will be held in Athens, Greece. Visit the official Athens 2004 website or find out more about the new Olympic medals, which feature many Greek elements.
Evita Peron Historical Research Foundation
Read about the film Evita on the Internet Movie Database.
The Tejano singing sensation Selena offers another great example of modern hero worship that has lots of parallels with ancient Greek beliefs. Click here for an article about pilgrims to Selena's tomb; visit the fan site of playwright and actor Edward Gallardo for images of Selena's grave and the memorial set up for her in Corpus Christi, Texas (Edward Gallardo also composed a musical about Selena that premiered in 2000); Read also about the healing powers of Selena's music (many ancient Greek heroes were believed to have healing powers after their deaths).
In this image, the hero Ajax carries the dead Achilles from battle. The image comes from the famous Francois vase. Link here to the Perseus Project essay and more images from this vase.
