Heracles and Heroic Disaster by Katherine Elizabeth Lu - Deep Blue

286 Pages·2013·1.11 MB·English

Heracles and Heroic Disaster
by
Katherine Elizabeth Lu
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
(Classical Studies)
in the University of Michigan
2013
Doctoral Committee:
Professor Ruth Scodel, Chair
Professor Sharon Herbert
Professor Richard Janko
Associate Professor Francesca Schironi
© Katherine Elizabeth Lu
2013
For my parents, Calvin and Florence Lu,
who first taught me the importance of the text
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Acknowledgements
A project such as this relies on the efforts of many people. First and foremost, I thank
my advisor, Ruth Scodel. Her wisdom and willingness to push the implications of my ideas have
been invaluable. The insightful and incisive criticism she has offered has, for many years now,
sharpened my thinking and writing. I owe a large debt of gratitude to Richard Janko. His
meticulous reading and comments have greatly improved this study, from its origins to its
completion. His love for the Greek world and excellent scholarship have inspired me
throughout my graduate training.
I thank Francesca Schironi, who asked crucial questions of my work and then pointed
me in the right directions. And I am grateful to Sharon Herbert. Her good humor and expertise
in Greek vase painting supported this work, each in its own way. Arthur Verhoogt provided
wise and practical counsel at each stage in my graduate education; without him, I fear for the
choices I would have made. Michelle Biggs made every day at the University of Michigan a little
smoother.
My years spent at Michigan were made pleasurable by the company of many fine
classicists, historians, archaeologists: Evelyn Adkins, Emily Bembeneck, Matt Cohn, Alex
Conison, Anne Reidmiller Cooper, Jenn Finn, Carolyn Gersh, Joe Groves, Tom Landvatter, Karen
Laurence, Charlotte Maxwell-Jones, Matt Newman, and Jared Secord. The friendship of Sarah
Barbrow and John Prensner, Shuen Chai, Katie Hampton, and Julie Park also sustained me in
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difficult times. They each helped bring this project to completion, for which I will always be
grateful.
My family has supported my work and enthusiasms for as long as I can remember. Peter
J. Lu was the first to urge me to pursue a Ph.D. Stephen and Grace Lu have always been invested
in my success and happiness, cheering each step along the way in all my endeavours. My
parents, Calvin and Florence Lu, have given me all I could ask for – support to pursue what I
love, acceptance when I fail, and encouragement to try again. It is to them that this work is
dedicated.
Finally, I offer gratitude to my fiancé David Hsu. His love, patience, and kindness have
made all this possible.
This research was supported by the Michael Jameson Fellowship at the American School
for Classical Studies at Athens (2009-2010) and the Rackham Merit Fellowship at the University
of Michigan (2010-2012).
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Table of Contents
Dedication....................................................................................................................................................ii
Acknowledgements...................................................................................................................................iii
List of Figures.............................................................................................................................................vi
Chapter 1: Introduction..............................................................................................................................1..
Heracles and His Disasters.....................................................................................................................2.
The Literature.......................................................................................................................................1..0
A Few Words on Methodology............................................................................................................1.6
A Prelude: Unproblematic Archaic Violence....................................................................................2.2
Chapter 2: Heroic Violence and its Victims: The Ambivalence of Heroic Success..........................41
Stesichorus' Geryoneis...........................................................................................................................4.5
Aristophanes' Frogs..............................................................................................................................6..3
Apollonius' Argonautica........................................................................................................................9.5
Pindar fr. 169a.....................................................................................................................................1..07
Chapter 3: Sophocles' Trachiniae: Heroic Competition and the Oikos...............................................113
Chapter 4: The Persistence of Heroic Aretē in Euripides' Heracles....................................................167
Part I: Aretē Questioned and Confirmed..........................................................................................1.71
Part II: The Failure of Aretē................................................................................................................1.92
Part III: Restoration through Aretē...................................................................................................2.01
Chapter 5: Heroic Failure and Erotic Attachment in Apollonius' Argonautica...............................215
The Definition of a Hero.....................................................................................................................2.16
The Danger of Erotic Attachment....................................................................................................2.32
Conclusion................................................................................................................................................2..56
Bibliography.............................................................................................................................................2..61
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List of Figures
Figure 3.1: Deianeira-Achelous-Heracles.............................................................................................115
Figure 3.2: Deianeira-Heracles..............................................................................................................116
Figure 3.3: Deianeira-Iole-Heracles......................................................................................................126
Figure 3.4: Deianeira-Iole-Heracles, Part II.........................................................................................129
Figure 3.5: Deianeira-Nessus-Heracles.................................................................................................133
Figure 3.6: Deianeira-Iole-Nessus-Heracles.........................................................................................141
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Chapter 1: Introduction
"Disaster" is not a word commonly associated with Heracles, the most popular and
victorious hero of ancient Greece. Heracles plays a bewildering variety of roles in Greek
culture, but his reputation rests primarily upon his civilizing mission: defeating monsters,
punishing villains, imposing order upon the wild. These acts convey obvious benefits to the
surrounding human community and earn Heracles a glorious reputation. Yet, despite the
centrality of his identity as a culture hero, a persistent strain of mythological tradition
documents how he exercises his superhuman skills to harm the innocent, wreaks havoc upon
his own family, and lets erotic attachment undermine his heroic missions. These shameful
disasters were a frequent subject of media ranging from monumental sculptures to pots to
poetry throughout the Greek world, often in direct counterpoint to portrayals of his
praiseworthy exploits.
This study explores the treatment of Heracles' violence, lust, and mania in both visual
images and literary texts from the sixth through third centuries B.C. These portrayals
demonstrate how his tendency towards destructiveness becomes increasingly problematic as
he is incorporated further into civic and social life as a positive exemplar. My analysis of
Heracles' disasters suggests that this stubborn tradition indicates a recurring anxiety over the
violence and excess so salient in his traditions. Heracles thus becomes an ideal figure through
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which poets and painters could express doubts about the real costs of heroism, propose new
definitions of excellence, and question the righteousness of Zeus himself. By tracing the
shifting boundary between heroic benefaction and heroic disaster, my study clarifies the very
definition of ancient Greek heroism, while illuminating its limits as well.
Heracles and His Disasters
I begin by proposing a few definitions that will govern this discussion. I define heroic
success as victory in a competition that requires superior strength, technique, or tactics; these
components encompass both βία (sheer physical dominance) and μῆτις (mental acuity).
Triumph in these competitions must constitute some form of social good: in defeating
threatening monsters and lawless humans, for example, a hero physically shields vulnerable
people from fear and damage and protects the rule of nomos. He advances civilization and
imposes order upon the earth. The hero who fights for the winning side in war acquires fame
and precious trophies; furthermore, he helps his allies and hurts his enemies. Athletic
competitions for honor between peers provide a governing structure for working out rivalries;
victory confers bragging rights without requiring the death of the defeated. In each of these
cases, because the competition is considered socially valuable, the victor is celebrated in song
and poetry. These songs of praise glorify the deeds of the victor and encourage others to
emulate him. Epinician poetry, in particular, aims to re-integrate the returning athletic victor
into his society.1 The most successful victor, then, accomplishes multiple goals: he must defeat
1 For an assessment of Heracles in Pindar, and how Pindar shapes his Heracles as a representation of his poetics,
see M. P. Nieto Hernandez, “Heracles and Pindar,” Mètis 8, no. 1 (1993): 75–102.
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his opponents, bring fame to his family and city, and also manage a socially harmonious
homecoming that does not arouse excessive envy of gods or fellow man.2 The hero, then, is
marked by his achievement of socially beneficial victories that are considered broadly
significant by others.
I define heroic disaster as the consequences of using heroic strength, technique, or
tactics to create destruction and chaos rather than social benefit. Instead of enforcing the
customs of human order and civilization, these disasters threaten boundaries, destroy
recklessly, and engender instability. These conspicuously negative actions – e.g., the unjustified
sacking of a city, the murder of the innocent, the rape of a virgin priestess – are manifestly not
to be imitated. Yet, at least in Heracles' case, his disasters continued to serve as the subject of
song and art. Heracles' most famous disasters are the maddened murder of his wife Megara
and their children and his death at the hands of his second wife Deianeira, who was jealous
over his destructive lust for Iole. This study will also consider his unheroic collapse upon the
loss of his erōmenos Hylas during the Argonauts' expedition, while his use of violence in the
service of accomplishing his Labors will be subject to scrutiny as well. These tales of lust and
violence occupy a prominent place in his saga, requiring an assessment alongside his positive
achievements. Ultimately, my findings will illuminate the reasons why Heracles' failures are
never wholly suppressed, but are used instead as vehicles for criticizing heroism and its aims,
proposing new definitions of excellence, and questioning Zeus' judgment.
Heracles is not the only hero to fall into heroic disaster. In fact, trouble seems intrinsic
to heroism, whether in literature or in cult. On the literary side, Ajax commits suicide after he
2 Kurke's study on epinician's mediation of relationships between victor and household, aristocratic community,
and polis, has become standard: Leslie Kurke, The Traffic in Praise: Pindar and the Poetics of Social Economy (Ithaca:
Cornell University Press, 1991).
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