The Violent Hero

Heracles in the Greek Imagination

The Violent Hero

Heracles in the Greek Imagination

Katherine Lu Hsu (Author)

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Description

This book uses the mythological hero Heracles as a lens for investigating the nature of heroic violence in Archaic and Classical Greek literature, from Homer through to Aristophanes. Heracles was famous for his great victories as much as for his notorious failures. Driving each of these acts is his heroic violence, an ambivalent force that can offer communal protection as well as cause grievous harm.

Drawing on evidence from epic, lyric poetry, tragedy, and comedy, this work illuminates the strategies used to justify and deflate the threatening aspects of violence. The mixed results of these strategies also demonstrate how the figure of Heracles inherently – and stubbornly – resists reform. The diverse character of Heracles' violent acts reveals an enduring tension in understanding violence: is violence a negative individual trait, that is to say the manifestation of an internal state of hostility? Or is it one specific means to a preconceived end, rather like an instrument whose employment may or may not be justified? Katherine Lu Hsu explores these evolving attitudes towards individual violence in the ancient Greek world while also shedding light on timeless debates about the nature of violence itself.

Dedication
Acknowledgements
List of Figures

Introduction

1. Heraclean Force and the Representation of Violence
2. Hero or Monster? Justifying Violence against Geryon
3. Heroic Competition and the Home in Sophocles' Trachiniae
4. Coping with Violence: Victory and Friendship in Euripides' Heracles
5. Heracles the Fool: Laughing at Violence

Conclusion: Which Path Did Heracles Choose?

Notes
Bibliography
Index

Product details

Published	Jun 30 2022
Format	Paperback
Edition	1st
Extent	264
ISBN	9781350191709
Imprint	Bloomsbury Academic
Illustrations	10 bw illus
Dimensions	234 x 156 mm
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

Author

Katherine Lu Hsu

Katherine Lu Hsu is Assistant Professor of Classic…

The Violent Hero offers a comprehensive study of Herakles' violent nature and behaviour and its ramifications for Greek culture, literature, and arts. While scholars have hitherto taken Herakles' 'heroic violence' as a given fact, Katherine Lu Hsu proposes for the first time a systematic scholarly evaluation of this topic.

Silvio Bär, Professor of Ancient Greek at the University of Oslo, Norway
Lu Hsu's close readings are good starting points for taking students through the different manifestations of Heracles in classical Greek literature.

Classics for All
By focusing brilliantly on the chosen theme … The Violent Hero allows us to reflect, with a certain distance, on the very difficult way in which we must manage and talk about violence, today more than ever.

Annie Verbanck-Piérard, Kernos