Heracles

Heracles:  Introduction and Assignment for Aug. 22

I. The Complexity of Heracles

A. [M]any of the mythological figures who have fascinated us most deeply throughout the centuries are . . . figures who defy simple description.  Heracles, who is probably the best known of all Greek mythic figures, is a perfect example: he was a glutton, a rapist, and a maddened infanticide, and yet also a civilizing hero, a protophilosopher, and a model for the Roman emperors. It is always possible to propose reasons that such complex characters developed as they did, but what I wish to emphasize at the moment is the fact that once they had become complex, they were allowed to remain that way.  This implies that it is their complexity itself that appeals to the artist, the author, and their audiences.  In seeking to understand the powerful hold that [such figures have had] upon our imaginations for almost three millennia, we must embrace [their] complexity and look within it for the secret of [their] longevity.

Sarah Iles Johnston, “Introduction,” Medea, pp. 6-7

B. [Different versions of popular myths] not only refer to the version treated in the authoritative literary work but also include other details, which help to round out a mythic biography.  The first phenomenon – the fact that there exist different versions of the same mythic episode – might be called the vertical tradition.  The other phenomenon – the fact that different versions yield a running biography of the mythic figure – might be called the horizontal tradition.  (I am aware that the boundaries between the phenomena are far from precise.)  Tensions exist between individual narratives of the same episode, as well as between each of these existing narratives and what might be called the imaginary core narrative, although whether there really ever was such a thing is one question that must be considered.  How severe the tensions and differences are between this “core” narrative and existing narratives is another important question:  how great is the plasticity of the myth?

Fritz Graf, “Medea, the Enchantress from Afar: Remarks on a Well-Known Myth,” in Medea, p. 21.

C. A hero whose only function seemingly is to exude unbending and all-conquering strength appears destined for the grandeur and lifelessness of a majestic monolith and ready for fossilization in proverb or symbol.  [Yet in the literary tradition Herakles] appears in a surprising variety of roles and his myth has been revived many times.  [He appears] in one century as the great, tragic sufferer, in another as the paragon of superhuman physical prowess and bravado, in another as the ideal nobleman and courtier, in another as the incarnation of rhetoric and intelligence and wisdom, in another as the divine mediator and a model of that way of life whose reward can only be heavenly; in another as a metaphysical sufferer, and in yet another as a comic, lecherous, gluttonous monster or as a romantic lover, and in still another as an exemplar of virtue. . . The traditional range of his qualities was varied and complex enough to be susceptible to ever new interpretations and thus to assure the hero survival and popularity.

G. Karl Galinsky, The Herakles Theme, pp. 1-2.

II. Primary sources

Just for an introduction to how Heracles’ life is pieced together from primary sources, here’s an internet assignment.  The source we will use here is Apollodorus, a collector of mythological stories:

• go to the Perseus project.  (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/)

• select searching tools.
• select English index.
• replace “Everything” with “Apollodorus: Library and Epitome” (you have to scroll down) and put “Hercules” into the search box.  (“Heracles” and “Herakles” produce no matches – for this kind of text search, you have to use the English transliteration the translator chose.)
• you should come up with 151 entries, 8 pages worth.  Each entry consists of a line or two, with a link to the full citation.  Choose one page at random (they are not in any particular order relevant to Heracles’ life) and go through its citations.  Note down the following (you may or may not need to see the full citation in each case):
• what exactly do we learn about Heracles from this passage?
• in what context is Heracles mentioned?  Is he the focus of the passage or is he mentioned incidentally?
• is he associated in this passage with a particular place?
• note other details that strike you as interesting.  Choose one passage you would like to mention in class discussion of this exercise.

III. Padilla’s text is very dense and although we are reading it all in the first few days, we will be focusing on specific parts of it throughout the semester.  Don’t try to digest all the notes.  For now, try only to form an overview of Heracles & the issues that surround him.

For our first couple of classes’ discussions, as you read Padilla:

·        Note down the types of sources he mentions as for learning about Heracles. 

·        What do scholars look at to try to determine his origins or the details of Heracles’ life?