Cover: The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours, from Harvard University PressCover: The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours in PAPERBACK

The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours

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$28.00 • £24.95 • €25.95

ISBN 9780674241688

Publication Date: 01/07/2020

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656 pages

6-1/8 x 9-1/4 inches

19 illus., 2 photos

Belknap Press

World

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  • Acknowledgments
  • A Brief Note about the New Edition
  • Introduction
  • I. Heroes in Epic and Lyric Poetry
    • Introduction to Homeric Poetry
    • Hour 1: The Homeric Iliad and the Glory of the Unseasonal Hero
      • The Meaning of Kleos
      • The Kleos of Achilles as Epic ‘Glory’
      • A Much Shorter Version of Epic ‘Glory’
      • The Immortalizing Power of Kleos as Epic ‘Glory’
      • The Meaning of Hōrā
      • The Need for Heroes to ‘Script’ Their Own Death
      • Hēraklēs as a Model Hero
      • The Labors of Hēraklēs
      • Hēraklēs and the Meaning of Kleos
      • Hēraklēs and the Idea of the Hero
      • Achilles and the Idea of the Hero
      • Achilles and the Meaning of Kleos
    • Hour 2: Achilles as Epic Hero and the Idea of Total Recall in Song
      • The Meaning of Memnēmai
      • Phoenix and His Total Recall
      • The Idea of Kleos as a Medium of Total Recall
      • The Idea of Kleos as Epic Narrative
      • An Epic Tale Told by Phoenix
      • The Form of Epic Poetry
      • To Sing the Klea Andrōn, ‘Glories of Men’
      • The Concept of a Speech Act
      • Back to the Epic Tale Told by Phoenix
      • The Emotions of Fear and Pity
      • The Story of Meleagros and Kleopatra
      • Plato’s Reading of the Iliad
      • The Epic Choice of Achilles
    • Hour 3: Achilles and the Poetics of Lament
      • The Meaning of Akhos and Penthos
      • A Man of Constant Sorrow
      • Achilles and Penthesileia the Amazon
      • The Essentials of Singing Laments
      • A Conventional Gesture in Women’s Laments
      • A Typological Comparison of Laments
      • The First Lament of Andromache
      • What Achilles Sang
      • The Song of Kleopatra
    • Hour 4: Achilles as Lyric Hero in the Songs of Sappho and Pindar
      • The Meaning of Aphthito-
      • The Imperishable Glory of Achilles in a Song of Pindar
      • The Lyric Glory of Achilles
      • The Imperishable Glory of Hector and Andromache in a Song of Sappho
      • Achilles as a Bridegroom
      • Achilles as a Focus of Lament
      • The Unfailing Glory of Achilles
      • Contrasting the Artificial and the Natural
      • The Unwilting Glory of Achilles
      • Achilles as a Model for Singing Lyric Songs of Glory
      • Models of Lament
    • Hour 5: When Mortals Become ‘Equal’ to Immortals: Death of a Hero, Death of a Bridegroom
      • The Meaning of Daimōn
      • The Expression ‘Equal to a Daimōn’
      • Apollo as Divine Antagonist of Achilles
      • Arēs as Divine Antagonist of Achilles
      • Achilles as Ideal Warrior and Ideal Bridegroom
      • Introducing an Interlude That Lasts an Added Hour: About Achilles as an Ideal Bridegroom in the Songs of Sappho
      • The Historical Background of Sappho’s Songs
      • Transition to Sappho’s Songs
      • Arēs and Aphrodite as Models for the Bridegroom and the Bride
      • Song 31 of Sappho
      • Song 1 of Sappho
      • The Ritual Background of Song 1 of Sappho
      • The Maiden Song of Alcman
      • A Typological Comparison of Initiation Rituals
      • Song 16 of Sappho
      • Another Song of Sappho
      • Back to Song 16 of Sappho
      • Back to Song 31 of Sappho
      • Epiphany and Death
      • Erōs and Arēs
      • Arēs as a Model for Achilles
      • Achilles the Eternal Bridegroom
      • Briseis as a Stand-in for Aphrodite
      • The Merging of Identity in Myth and Ritual
      • Distinctions between Real Death and Figurative Death in Lyric
      • Apollo as Model for Achilles
      • Fatal Attraction
    • Hour 6: Patroklos as the Other Self of Achilles
      • The Meaning of Therapōn
      • Patroklos as Therapōn
      • Anatolian Origins of the Word Therapōn
      • Early Greek Uses of the Words Therapōn, Theraps, Therapeuein
      • The Therapōn as Charioteer
      • The Therapōn as a Ritual Substitute
      • Arēs as Divine Antagonist of Patroklos and Achilles
      • The Therapeutic Function of the Therapōn
      • Patroklos as the Other Self of Achilles
      • Ramifications of the Idea of Another Self
      • Simone Weil on Sacrificial Substitution
    • Hour 7: The Sign of the Hero in Visual and Verbal Art
      • The Meaning of Sēma
      • The Sign of the Hero at a Chariot Race
      • The Sign in the Visual Arts
      • Selected Examples of Signs in the Visual Arts
      • Rethinking Hour 7: a. Myth and Ritual in Pictures of Chariot Scenes Involving Achilles
      • Rethinking Hour 7: b. Apobatic Chariot Racing
    • Hour 8: The Psychology of the Hero’s Sign in the Homeric Iliad
      • The Meaning of Psūkhē
      • The Psūkhē of Patroklos in the Iliad
      • The Psūkhē of Patroklos in the Picture Painted on the Münster Hydria
      • Achilles and Patroklos as Joint Cult Heroes
      • The Prefiguring of Achilles by Patroklos
      • Heroic Immortalization and the Psūkhē
      • The Psūkhē as Both Messenger and Message
      • Back to the Glory of the Ancestors
      • Back to the Meaning of Patroklos
    • Hour 9: The Return of Odysseus in the Homeric Odyssey
      • The Meaning of Nostos
      • The Roles of Odysseus
      • The Complementarity of the Iliad and the Odyssey
      • The Heroic Mentality of Achieving Nostos
      • A Nostos in the Making
      • Echoes of Lament in a Song about Homecoming
    • Hour 10: The Mind of Odysseus in the Homeric Odyssey
      • The Meaning of Noos
      • The Interaction of Noos and Nostos
      • The Hero’s Return to His Former Social Status
      • The Hero’s Return from the Cave
      • The Return to Light and Life
      • The Journey of a Soul
    • Hour 11: Blessed Are the Heroes: The Cult Hero in Homeric Poetry and Beyond
      • The Meaning of Olbios
      • Signs of Hero Cult
      • Different Meanings of the Word Olbios for the Initiated and for the Uninitiated
      • How a Homeric Hero Can Become Truly Olbios
      • The Death of Odysseus
      • A Mystical Vision of the Tomb of Odysseus
      • Two Meanings of a Sēma
      • An Antagonism between Athena and Odysseus
      • Conclusion: The Seafarer Is Dead and the Harvest Is Complete
    • Hour 12: The Cult Hero as an Exponent of Justice in Homeric Poetry and Beyond
      • The Meaning of Dikē
      • An Occurrence of Dikē as ‘Justice’ in the Odyssey
      • The Golden Generation of Humankind
      • Hesiod as an Exponent of Justice
      • Metaphors for Dikē and Hubris
      • The Silver Generation of Humankind
      • Two Further Generations of Humankind
      • Hesiod in the Iron Age
      • Back to Hesiod as an Exponent of Dikē
      • A Reconnection of Generations in an Orchard
  • II. Heroes in Prose Media
    • Hour 13: A Crisis in Reading the World of Heroes
      • The Meaning of Krinein
      • A Story about the Meaning of Olbios in the Histories of Herodotus
      • Another Story about the Meaning of Olbios in the Histories of Herodotus
      • Variations in Discriminating between the Real and the Unreal
      • Variations in Discriminating between Justice and Injustice
      • Heroes as Exponents of Justice in Poetry after Homer and Hesiod
    • Hour 14: Longing for a Hero: A Retrospective
      • The Meaning of Pothos
      • Testimony from the Hērōikos of Philostratus
      • Longing for Protesilaos in the Homeric Iliad
      • The Sacred Eroticism of Heroic Beauty
      • The Beauty of Seasonality in a Modern Greek Poem
      • The Beauty of the Hero in Death
      • A Beautiful Setting for the Beautiful Cult Hero
      • Paroxysms of Sentimentality in Worshipping Cult Heroes
      • Back to the Tumulus of Achilles
      • Longing for Achilles: You’re Going to Miss Me
      • Longing for Patroklos: I’ll Miss Him Forever
    • Hour 15: What the Hero ‘Means’
      • The Meaning of Sēmainein
      • What Protesilaos ‘Means’
      • The Mystery of a Cult Hero
      • What Herodotus ‘Means’
      • More on the Mystery of a Cult Hero
      • Back to the ‘Meaning’ of Protesilaos
      • Initiation into the Mysteries of a Cult Hero
      • The Descent of an Initiand into the Nether World of a Cult Hero
      • A Brief Commentary on the Text about the Descent
      • The Oracular Consultation of Heroes
      • An Initiation for the Reader
      • The Personal Intimacy of Experiencing a Heroic Epiphany
      • Ritual Correctness in Making Mental Contact with the Cult Hero
      • How the Cult Hero Communicates
      • More on the Oracular Consultation of Heroes
      • Coming Back Once Again to What the Hero ‘Means’
      • The Cult Hero as a Medium
  • III. Heroes as Reflected in Tragedy
    • Introduction to Tragedy
    • Hour 16: Heroic Aberration in the Agamemnon of Aeschylus
      • The Meaning of Atē
      • The Oresteia Trilogy of Aeschylus in the Larger Context of His Other Tragedies
      • The Atē of Agamemnon in Epic and Tragedy
      • An Ainos about a Lion Cub
      • Predators as Agents of Dikē
      • Predators as Agents of Deeds Contrary to Dikē
      • A Sequence of Symbols
      • The Symbolic Wording of the Watchman
      • Three Further Examples of Symbolic Wording
    • Hour 17: Looking beyond the Cult Hero in the Libation Bearers and the Eumenides of Aeschylus
      • The Meaning of Tīmē
      • The Agenda of Athena
      • Pouring Libations for Cult Heroes or for Ancestors
      • What Stands in the Way of a Ritually Correct Libation by Electra
      • Transcending the Spirit of Vendetta
      • A New World Order for Athens
    • Hour 18: Sophocles’ Oedipus at Colonus and the Power of the Cult Hero in Death
      • The Meaning of Kolōnos
      • More on the Meaning of Colonus
      • How to Imagine Colonus
      • Colonus, Land of Running Horses
      • Further Perspectives on the Meanings Connected to the Word Kolōnos and to the Name Kolōnos
      • Oedipus as Cult Hero at Colonus
      • The Mysterious Death of Oedipus
      • Scenarios for Dying and Then Coming Back to Life
      • The Mystification of the Hero’s Tomb in the Oedipus at Colonus
      • Personalizing the Death of Oedipus
    • Hour 19: Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus and Heroic Pollution
      • The Meaning of Miasma
      • The Pollution of Tyrants
      • A Look inside the Psūkhē of Oedipus
      • The Pollution Caused by Oedipus
      • Oedipus as Savior
      • A Second Look inside the Psūkhē of Oedipus
      • Purifying the Pollution in Tragedy
      • The Reaction of Oedipus to His Own Pollution in the Oedipus Tyrannus
    • Hour 20: The Hero as Mirror of Men’s and Women’s Experiences in the Hippolytus of Euripides
      • The Meaning of Telos
      • Two Contexts of Telos for Hippolytus
      • Hippolytus as a Cult Hero in Athens
      • Hippolytus as a Cult Hero in Troizen
      • Comparing the Troizenian and the Athenian Versions of the Hippolytus Tradition
      • Two Conventional Patterns of Thinking about Hippolytus as a Cult Hero in Troizen
      • Hippolytus in Epidaurus
      • Euripides Recapitulates a Troizenian Ritual
      • Love Song and Song of Laments
      • The Trouble with Hippolytus
      • The Complementarity of Artemis and Aphrodite
      • From Native Troizenian Ritual to the Drama of Athenian State Theater
      • Empathy for Female and Male Experiences
      • The Death of Phaedra
      • Epilogue: The Death of Phaethon
    • Hour 21: The Hero’s Agony in the Bacchae of Euripides
      • The Meaning of Agōn
      • The Agōn of Pentheus
      • The Meaning of Pathos
      • Staging the Dismemberment of Pentheus
      • The Staging of Dionysus
      • The Subjectivity of Dionysus
      • Staging the Bacchants
      • Staging Pentheus
      • A Divine Prototype for the Passion of Pentheus
      • Tracking Down the Origins of Tragedy
      • Hope for a Reassembly of the Body after Its Dismemberment
  • IV. Heroes as Reflected in Two Dialogues of Plato
    • Hour 22: The Living Word I: Socrates in Plato’s Apology of Socrates
      • The Meaning of Daimonion
      • The Subversive Threat of ‘the Superhuman Signal’
      • What Happens to Socrates after Death
      • A Heroic Timing for the Death of Socrates
      • Socrates and Achilles
      • An Odyssean Way for the Journey of Socrates
      • The Swan Song of Socrates
    • Hour 23: The Living Word II: Socrates in Plato’s Phaedo
      • The Meaning of Theōriā
      • The Symbolism of Theōriā in Plato’s Phaedo
      • The Garlanding of the Theoric Ship
      • Revisiting another Theōriā
      • Theorizing about Theōriā
      • Socrates, Master of Poetry as Well as Dialogue
      • A New Way to Imagine Immortalization after Death
  • V. Heroes Transcended
    • Hour 24: The Hero as Savior
      • The Meaning of Sōzein and Sōtēr
      • Theseus as a Savior for the Athenians
      • A Metaphorical Use of the Word Sōzein by Plato’s Socrates
      • A Metaphorical Use of the Word Sōphrōn in an Archaic Hymn
      • Achilles as Saved Hero and as Savior Hero
      • Achilles, Hero of the Hellespont
      • Three More Glimpses of Heroic Salvation
      • The Living Word of Plato’s Socrates
  • Abbreviations
  • References
  • Core Vocabulary of Key Greek Words
  • Index

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