Classical World Unveiled: Heroes, Epics, and Tragedies
Understanding Ancient Greek & Roman Heroes
A hero in ancient contexts was often a mortal who, upon death, left behind a strong, vivid spirit. Occasionally, figures like Heracles, Orpheus, Aeneas, and Romulus (Aeneas and Romulus were mortal men who became gods after their deaths) ascended to divinity. Heroes were figures of divine and aristocratic origin, allowing them to exist in the space between mortals and gods. They were also recognized for performing extraordinary accomplishments, especially military feats, and were often identified with a particular city-state.
These heroes held an intermediate status, associated with glory and often honored through Hero Cults. In these cults, people from the hero’s specific city-state would offer sacrifices, believing these rituals conferred benefits. Hero cults were frequently associated with local city-founders or lawgivers.
The Legend of Heracles (Hercules)
Heracles, also known as Hercules, is a prime example of an ancient hero. He was the son of Zeus and Alcmene. His birth was marked by controversy: Zeus disguised himself as Amphitryon to rape Alcmene, leading Hera to swear lasting enmity towards Heracles and attempt to kill him as a baby.
Tragically, Heracles was driven mad by Hera, causing him to kill his first wife, Megara, and their children. He later saved his second wife from the Centaur Nessus, who was attempting to rape her. Heracles became a Pan-Hellenic hero, renowned for his Twelve Labors, which he performed in service to King Eurystheus. These labors included a variety of tasks: agricultural duties, irrigation projects, hunting formidable beasts, wrestling, and athletic contests.
Upon his death, Heracles ascended to Mount Olympus and married Hebe, the goddess of youth, solidifying his divine status.
Homer: Poet of the Iliad and Odyssey
Homer, traditionally believed to be blind, is thought to have been born around c. 850 BCE on the coast of Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey. He is famously attributed with works such as the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Homeric Hymns.
The authorship of these works led to the Homeric Question, which debated whether the Iliad and Odyssey were written by the same person. Some scholars hypothesize yes, while others argue no, citing numerous contradictions within the epics. Scholars like Milman Parry suggested that “Homer” might represent an oral tradition that culminated in the written versions of the Odyssey and the Iliad.
Key aspects of the Homeric language style include: the use of formulas, the distinctive epic simile, and the portrayal of grandiose action involving both heroes and gods.
The Quarrel of Achilles and Agamemnon
The epic conflict in the Iliad begins when Apollo sends a plague to punish Agamemnon for refusing to ransom Chryseis. Achilles consults Calchas, a priest, and demands Chryseis’ return from Agamemnon. In retaliation, Agamemnon demands Briseis, Achilles’ war prize, as his own.
Enraged, Achilles withdraws from the Achaean army and seeks help from his goddess mother, Thetis. During their heated argument, Achilles is on the verge of killing Agamemnon when Athena intervenes, grabbing him by his hair and stopping him.
Achilles refuses to fight for the Greeks and asks Thetis to request aid from Zeus against them. He argues for the right of warriors to keep their property, but Agamemnon, asserting his authority as king, insists on his prerogative to take what he desires, further fueling the dispute.
Honor and Status in the Iliad
Central to the Iliad are the concepts of Timē (honor, the social standing that accrues to an individual) and Kleos (reputation, glory). The entire epic revolves not just around the abduction of a beautiful woman, but fundamentally around the honor and status of each character, and how they perceived these to be threatened. To preserve their standing and reputation, characters often felt compelled to fight, proving their worth and reclaiming their honor.
Iliad Book 6: Human Relationships Amidst War
Iliad Book 6 depicts the battlefield after the gods withdraw, allowing the Achaean forces to gain an advantage over the Trojans. Despite realizing their impending downfall, the Trojans resolve to continue fighting. This book notably shifts focus to human relationships rather than divine interactions. It introduces Diomedes, who, while fighting Glaucus, discovers their grandfathers were friends, leading them to exchange tokens of respect rather than continuing their combat.
The Embassy to Achilles (Book 9)
Book 9 details the Embassy to Achilles, consisting of Odysseus, Ajax, and Phoenix. Realizing his error in taking Achilles’ prize, Agamemnon sends this delegation with numerous gifts, including the offer of his daughter in marriage and the return of Briseis. However, Achilles steadfastly refuses Agamemnon’s overtures, remaining withdrawn from the fighting.
Patroclus: Achilles’ Companion and Catalyst
Patroclus, Achilles’ close companion, was a great warrior who stood by Achilles’ cause. He famously wore Achilles’ armor to support the Greek forces. His death at the hands of Hector, after Patroclus himself killed Sarpedon, triggered an inevitable “chain of death” and set the stage for Achilles’ devastating vengeance.
Patroclus, perhaps consumed by a sense of invincibility, ignored divine advice, believing himself too powerful and unstoppable, a hubris that ultimately led to his demise.
Vergil’s Aeneid: Rome’s National Epic
Vergil’s Aeneid is renowned as a Roman national epic, blending elements of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. Vergil enjoyed a close relationship with Maecenas, his patron and a key ally of Emperor Augustus.
Tragically, Vergil, bedridden due to a heat stroke, instructed his friends to burn the Aeneid upon his death, believing it unfinished. However, his friends recognized its immense value and preserved his writings for posterity.
Books 1-6 of the Aeneid recount Aeneas’s travels, often referred to as “Aeneas’s Odyssey.” This section begins with Aeneas shipwrecked on a foreign shore, detailing his arduous journey and culminating in his significant visit to the Underworld.
Aeneas: The Roman Hero and Founder
Aeneas, a descendant of Aphrodite, is the central hero of the Aeneid. He is known as the Trojan who escaped the Battle of Troy, and his descendants are fated to found the city of Rome. Throughout the epic, Aeneas embodies the transition from a Greek hero to a distinctly Roman one.
He must contend with Juno’s (Hera’s) relentless anger, fueled by her protection of Carthage, a city destined to be overthrown by Rome. Aeneas famously escapes Troy by carrying his elderly father, Anchises, on his back and leading his son, Ascanius, by the hand.
The Roman Concept of Pietas (Piety)
Pietas, or piety, is the quality of being religious or reverent, a concept Aeneas embodies perfectly. He demonstrates this by carrying his father and son out of the burning city and diligently re-establishing his household gods in a new land.
Pietas was a profoundly important Roman concept, an ideology that expected citizens to display the correct disposition towards a hierarchy of obligations:
- Owing reverence to the gods.
- Demonstrating unfailing devotion to Rome.
- Showing obedience and respect towards their own families, especially their father.
Understanding Epic Similes
Epic similes, also known as Homeric similes, are extended comparisons that liken two distinct things. However, in epic poetry, these comparisons extend beyond a simple likeness, offering deeper layers of meaning that require closer examination. The initial comparison often serves as a gateway to a more complex and nuanced understanding.
Sometimes, the two elements compared within an epic simile can even juxtapose each other, making the connection less straightforward. The Aeneid, for instance, frequently employs epic similes, often drawing subtle and overt comparisons to the Iliad through its literary techniques.
Dido: Queen of Carthage and Tragic Lover
Dido, the formidable Queen and founder of Carthage, was a widow who had sworn an oath to her deceased husband never to remarry. However, Venus intervenes, sending Cupid to make Dido fall passionately in love with Aeneas, with Cupid disguised as Aeneas’s son, Ascanius.
Later, Venus and Juno conspire to bring Aeneas and Dido together, seemingly in marriage, by causing a thunderstorm during a hunt. Dido’s sister, Anna, persuades her to pursue a relationship with Aeneas, arguing it would protect the city, but Dido remains deeply conflicted.
Ultimately, Jupiter sends Mercury to urge Aeneas to abandon Dido and continue his destiny. Upon learning of Aeneas’s impending departure, Dido sends Anna to try and stop him. In despair, Dido curses Aeneas’s lineage and takes her own life. Juno, pitying her suffering, sends Iris to ease her passing.
Aeneid Book 4: The Tragedy of Dido
Book 4, often titled “The Tragedy of Dido,” can be analyzed through three tragic acts:
- The beginning of the affair with Aeneas (hamartia or error).
- The quarrel between Dido and Aeneas, where she recognizes the implications of her actions (anagnorisis or recognition).
- The dramatic climax of the affair, ending with Dido’s suicide and her curse upon Aeneas (catharsis).
Aeneid Book 6: Aeneas’s Journey to the Underworld
Aeneid Book 6 recounts Aeneas’s momentous trip through the Underworld. Guided by the Sibyl, he is instructed to perform funeral rites for an unburied companion and to obtain a golden bough, which he acquires with difficulty, before proceeding into the realm of the dead.
The first soul he encounters is Dido, who, having reunited with her deceased husband, refuses to speak to him, giving him the “cold shoulder.” Aeneas then finds his father, Anchises, who gives him a tour of the Underworld and reveals the future glory of Rome.
Classical Athens: Democracy, Empire, and Tragedy
Classical Athens (508-322 BCE) was the birthplace of democracy and innovation. Following their victory over the Persians, the Athenians successfully transformed their naval power into an expansive empire. Athens considered itself unique, believing it was the most civilized and educated state of its time.
This era also saw the flourishing of Greek tragedy, which often explored complex questions about civilization, education, and the human condition, offering diverse perspectives on these fundamental themes.
Elements of Greek Tragedy
A typical Greek tragedy featured a chorus of 12 to 15 men of similar status, and usually three actors who played all the roles, wearing masks (often with wide mouths to enhance acoustics). Messenger speeches were common, delivering crucial plot information.
Key characteristics of Greek tragedy include:
- Involvement of death and a character with a “tragic flaw” (hamartia).
- Performance under specific conditions with generic expectations.
- Characters who are not everyday people, but rather gods, goddesses, kings, or heroes.
- Use of elevated, poetic language, distinct from everyday speech.
For example, in Sophocles’ Ajax, the chorus comprises a group of sailors under Ajax’s command.
Sophocles’ Ajax: Honor, Madness, and Suicide
In Sophocles’ tragedy, Ajax and Odysseus compete for the arms of Achilles. Odysseus wins the arms through democratic votes, sparking Ajax’s intense jealousy, as he believed the arms rightfully belonged to him as the second-best Greek warrior after Achilles.
In his rage, Ajax resolves to kill the leaders of the Greek army. Discovering his plan, Athena intervenes, driving him insane so that he slaughters animals instead of men. The play opens with Ajax outside his hut, amidst the carnage of the animals.
Athena appears to Ajax, revealing the truth of his actions. Filled with overwhelming shame, Ajax ultimately commits suicide. Odysseus, the victor, later visits Ajax in the Underworld but is met with bitter rejection.
The Dispute Over Ajax’s Body
The dispute over Ajax’s body highlights a conflict of principles. Menelaus argues that Ajax should not be buried, and that his body should be denied the honor of Achilles’ arms, despite Ajax being the second-best warrior after Achilles.
Agamemnon, however, insists that Teucer, Ajax’s half-brother, must obey the majority’s decision. Teucer, in turn, champions the democratic ideal, asserting that a democratic state is based on free participation and the diversity of its people, skills, and backgrounds.
He argues that if a verdict is reached and then ignored, the very foundation of democracy becomes meaningless, raising the profound question: “What is the point of democracy?”
Dionysus: God of Wine, Ecstasy, and the Unconscious
Dionysus, a god often known as the god of wine, revelry, and ecstasy, also profoundly represents the unconscious mind of humans, embodying irrational and emotional thoughts. He is the god of wine, fertility, and theater, and is associated with:
- Animals and plants
- Sexuality
- Mystical transcendence
Dionysus’s followers, including satyrs and maenads, are typically depicted as part of a noisy, often intoxicated, crowd.
The Dionysian approach to life emphasizes emotions and wild, intuitive ideas, standing in stark contrast to the Apollonian approach, which is based on reason, order, and philosophy.
Euripides’ Bacchae: Divine Vengeance in Thebes
Euripides, one of the great Athenian tragedy writers, penned the classical play Bacchae, which recounts Dionysus’s invasion of the Greek city of Thebes. The play begins with Dionysus’s arrival in Thebes, where his main rival is King Pentheus, who views Dionysus as an outsider bringing only corruption to the city.
Dionysus, however, tricks Pentheus into dressing as a woman, seducing him to spy on his mother and her sisters, who are participating in Dionysian rites. In their frenzied state, Pentheus’s mother and aunts brutally kill him. After the deed is done, Dionysus reveals his true identity and punishes them for their impiety and resistance to his divinity.
Pentheus: Thebes’ King and Dionysus’s Foil
Pentheus, the King of Thebes and grandson of Cadmus, embodies law, order, military discipline, and patriarchal authority. He stands as a stark opposite to Dionysus, representing strict adherence to reason and control against Dionysus’s embrace of emotion, wildness, and the irrational.
This fundamental conflict between reason and emotion is central to his character and the tragedy of the Bacchae.
Meta-Theater in Euripides’ Bacchae
Meta-theater refers to elements within a play that draw attention to its own nature as a drama or to the circumstances of its performance. In Greek theater, this often included the practice of men cross-dressing as women, as women were not permitted to perform, and props were often heavy.
In the Bacchae, Dionysus himself acts as a meta-theatrical figure, driving the plot and manipulating the characters as if they were actors in his divine drama, highlighting the constructed reality of the play.