Decline of the Greek Hero throughout Greece's History

[longshotgene]

Hello everyone,

 

I am getting ready to write a research paper for my Classical Greek Studies class and was curious if you all could give me some feedback on my topic.

 

Topic: Decline of the Greek Hero throughout the history of ancient Greece.

Primary Objective of the Paper-I am working to prove that the concept of the Greek Hero (Achilles, Jason, etc.) started to disappear more and more as the Greeks neared the dawn of Macedonian takeover. Once the Romans come on the scene, the Greek Hero has become more of a myth or legend than a reality. According to documented works, these individuals all existed, however time has erased who these individuals were, and left us only with the exaggerated myth.

Sources-Anything you guys could recomend on the topic. I have numerous sources myself, but I didn't know if any of you could recomend any books that would hit on this type of historical character or topic? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Julius Ratus]

I think that he heroes of old got their status because they were just that, heroes of old. Th distant past tends to make giants out of men. Look at Alexander. Today he is the greatest conqueror of all time (to some). In his own time he was just a man. On Greek (whose name escapes me) stated that he couldn't possibly be dead, for the whole world would stink of his corpse. Try finding a line like that about Achilles.

[Ursus]

Look at Alexander. Today he is the greatest conqueror of all time (to some). In his own time he was just a man.

 

 

Actually, to many contemporaries he was in some sense divine, the precursor of the Hellenistic god-kings.

 

And to the original poster, perhaps that would be an interesting angle. The concept of the Hero was an archaic atavism that yielded to the Hellenistic concept of the ruler cult.

[The Augusta]

Look at Alexander. Today he is the greatest conqueror of all time (to some). In his own time he was just a man.

 

 

Actually, to many contemporaries he was in some sense divine, the precursor of the Hellenistic god-kings..

 

Surely not, Julius Ratus! As Ursus points out - he was far from 'just a man' to the Macedonians who followed him.

[ASCLEPIADES]

Hello everyone,

 

I am getting ready to write a research paper for my Classical Greek Studies class and was curious if you all could give me some feedback on my topic.

 

Topic: Decline of the Greek Hero throughout the history of ancient Greece.

Primary Objective of the Paper-I am working to prove that the concept of the Greek Hero (Achilles, Jason, etc.) started to disappear more and more as the Greeks neared the dawn of Macedonian takeover. Once the Romans come on the scene, the Greek Hero has become more of a myth or legend than a reality. According to documented works, these individuals all existed, however time has erased who these individuals were, and left us only with the exaggerated myth.

Sources-Anything you guys could recomend on the topic. I have numerous sources myself, but I didn't know if any of you could recomend any books that would hit on this type of historical character or topic? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Salve, LS!

 

The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949) by Joseph Campbell is a must.

 

And there's also a bunch of literature and commentaries both pro and against that seminal text.

 

(I think Campbell's Monomyth model would be mainly against your thesis, as it considers the heroic archetype basically universal and ubiquitous).