The Deviant Villain (original) (raw)
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The goal of this paper is to reconstruct the network of intertextual connections that in ancient epic poetry link the most important evil heroes, from Homer’s Cyclops to Vergil’s Mezentius and Statius’ Capaneus, and to investigate the functions of this typological model in the value system of the epic genre. Through the character of the villain, and his final, if partial, redemption, epic poetry reflects on the (not always clear-cut) boundaries between good and evil, and invites its readers to broaden and deepen the understanding of the complexity of human nature.
For Whose Greater Good? The Case of Hero-Making: Girch and Darius
Heroism Science: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2019
This article reviews an investigation into the case of Stanley Girch (aka Girėnas) and Stephen William Darius as (multi)transfigured and transforming heroes and seeks to examine a twofold assumption that has emerged in heroism science, namely that people create heroes mostly for the better and that learning from the past can help assess which heroes are needed. We argue that it may be beneficial to shift the focus of the analysis and follow the reverse course of a hero's journey, tracing the impact, evolution and origin of the heroic status ascribed to the historical figures, whether individual or collective. Presuming that heroic status follows contextualization of actions, the developmental phases, techniques, and authorship of hero-making can be revealed through a reverse analysis of multi-layered contexts. The findings have led to the unsettling conclusion that the making of historical heroes hardly served the greater good and was quite removed from what was thought necessary. The same contradiction, however, may give an impulse for further development of heroism science as it prompts a broad-based, interdisciplinary assessment of the effectiveness of hero-making in the past, its present influence and projections for the future.
" EARLY RULERS " AND THE VANITY THEME IN MESOPOTAMIAN WISDOM LITERATURE AND BEYOND
This article will examine the occurrence of the " Vanity Theme " in Mesopotamian wisdom literature and elsewhere. However, the main interest of this investigation lies in the list of rulers or illustrious men of old which is manifest in a variety of wisdom " Vanity Theme " compositions. We will argue that it will not suffice to speak about the " Vanity Theme " in various literatures of the ancient Near East and the Mediterranean. We should try to identify a particular literary expression that is associated with this type of composition. We contend that this expression is the list or naming of " Early Rulers " that comes to serve as an exemplum to the basic assertion of the " Vanity Theme. " Les neiges d'antan: " Gobernantes antiguos " y el tema de la vanidad en la literatura sapiencial de Mesopotamia y más allá Este artículo examinará la aparición del " tema de la vanidad " en la literatura sapien-cial de Mesopotamia y más allá. Sin embargo, el interés principal de esta investiga-ción radica en la lista de gobernantes u hombres ilustres de antaño que se manifiesta en una variedad de composiciones sapienciales con el " tema de la vanidad ". Argüiremos que no es suficiente con hablar sobre el " tema de la vanidad " en las diversas literaturas del antiguo Cercano Oriente y el Mediterráneo. Deberíamos tratar de identificar una expresión literaria particular que esté asociada con este tipo de composición. Sostenemos que esta expresión es la lista o denominación de los
Modern historians of ancient Mesopotamia are chiefly concerned with the deeds of the kings and mainly use sources which reflect conditions at the apex of Mesopotamian society. This paper attempts to investigate possible traces of discontent and opposition as well as the criteria involving the loss of the legitimacy of power in Early Mesopotamia. We will deal with two major types of sources: the early curse formulas in “royal” inscriptions, and the school-based tradition of Sumerian proverbs. Especially the latter allow for a more socially-balanced understanding of history.
On violence, error and royal succession in Neo-Assyrian times
Violence seems to have been considered in Mesopotamian texts according to two main perspectives represented in mythology and celebrative historiography: a perspective from which war appears as one of the rational means for the ordering of the world through the king's conquests, which defeat contrary forces, and a perspective from which conflict is the result of a vacuum of divine power and the unleashing of irrational forces. Concentrating our attention on the NA period, we may detect the first view amply exemplified by royal inscriptions, which often dwell on demonstrating the "reasons" of war; the second receives ample elaboration in Erra and Išum. The poem, freely adapting literary motifs, describes scenarios in which violence is not a means of conquest, but rather a process of senseless destruction, as represented in detail especially in the fourth tablet of the tale. Due to the well-known parallelism between heavenly and earthly spheres and in particular the analogy drawn between cosmic and political power, historical events may be interpreted according to literary clichés and the two perspectives combined.
2017
This thesis identifies and elucidates a common engagement with Mesopotamian kingship ideology in the Gilgamesh and the Alexander the Great narrative traditions. As both archetypal monarchs are understood to have ruled as kings in Mesopotamia, this is a much more secure context for comparison. The result of this contextualisation is that the identified parallels are better supported and more clearly understood. Although the study is rendered in comparison, the exegesis of the episodes is not strictly bound by parallels between the traditions. The primary concern is a comparable engagement with Mesopotamian kingship ideology. This enables the thesis to contribute uniquely to the study of each figure's kingship, as well as their comparative dynamic. Mesopotamian kingship was a contest, and our two subject kings represent rivals for the pinnacle in this arena. Therefore, the identification and presentation of a king to surpass all others is argued for both in presented deeds and persevering legends. Chapter one outlines the premise of the thesis, addresses previous comparisons made in scholarship between the subject kings, and discusses the evidence. Specifically, this is the network of narratives utilised by the study. For the Gilgamesh tradition, these are the Akkadian language manuscripts of the Gilgamesh Epic and the Sumerian Gilgamesh poems concerning the death of Gilgamesh and his campaign against Huwawa. For the Alexander tradition, the study is limited to the Alexander narratives that share a relative geographically congruence with the Gilgamesh narratives. These are the canonical Graeco-Roman Alexander narratives by Diodorus, Curtius, Plutarch, Arrian, and Justin, as well as the Pseudo-Callisthenes narratives, the Syriac Alexander Legend and the Syriac Metric Homily. Chapter two outlines the methodology. Chapter three contextualises Gilgamesh's campaign against Humbaba in Mesopotamian kingly action. Chapter four argues for a comparative understanding of Alexander's siege of Tyre. Chapter five then compares the death of a king in each tradition, and chapter six the subsequent mythical wanderings of our protagonist kings. Chapter seven provides the thesis' conclusion. The overarching themes are the legitimisation of one's kingship and the transfer of power in the Mesopotamian royal tradition. PhD Classics Research Dr James Ryan King's College London 'foreign' occupant of throne. The tradition of kingship in Sumer and Akkad was inherently one of continuity and transfer from very early on. The Sumerian King List (SKL) clearly demonstrates this. Kingship was something bestowed on the earth by the gods. 11 When the gods reinstituted kingship on earth after the Flood in the city of Kish, it was the divine right to total rule on earth (or hegemonic kingship) that was bestowed. 12 Ideologically, earthly hegemony was placed on a single city. 13 This is a complex and sophisticated ideal, as rule in Kish developed to mean both a city-state power base with rights to totality, and a conceptualisation of totality itself. 14 As the conceptual world expanded with the imperial world, microcosms evidently developed.