Any piece of content that has been omitted in this new edition can easily be retrieved in the online version of the original edition.
- 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
- Hour 13: A Crisis in Reading the World of Heroes
- 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
- Hour 22: The Living Word I: Socrates in Plato’s Apology of Socrates
- 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
- Hour 24: The Hero as Savior
- Abbreviations
- References
- Core Vocabulary of Key Greek Words
- Index
Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library
I Tatti Renaissance Library
Loeb Classical Library
Murty Classical Library of India