Classical Mythology, 7th Edition - obinfonet: dia logou

INTRODUCTION 373
characterization of heroes in all periods of mythological creation. The quests of
Perseus, Odysseus, and Aeneas, to name only three, are to some degree alike,
but they are all the more fascinating because of their differences. Achilles and
Ajax represent two very different personalities in their response to the thematic
code of heroic arete ("excellence"). Hector and Paris are not simple reflections of
the pattern of brotherly opposites; instead, emotionally and psychologically they
are worlds apart, and their feelings about war, life and death, and love and marriage
may be most intricately juxtaposed. The rich and illuminating examples of
complexity and profundity in heroic portraits make up the substance of our text.
Some heroes do not always act as heroes and reveal their feet of clay, and
all heroes, to be sure, do not live happily ever after; a few of them are even
undone by the heroines with whom they are associated. Witness the life and
humiliating demise of Jason and the death of Heracles, both excruciating and
glorious at one and the same time; Theseus too suffers a miserable end as a dishonored
exile.
Heroines also provide motifs that are just as intriguing and varied as those
of the heroes. They usually are of royal or divine stature, are possessed of extraordinary
beauty, wield great power, and become the mothers of heroes. Like
Propp in his analysis of the hero, Burkert (as we have seen, pp. 14-15) reduces
the diverse lives of heroines into a clear sequence of five functions: (1) The girl
leaves home. (2) The girl is secluded (beside a river, in a tower, in a forest, etc.).
(3) She is made pregnant by a god. (4) She suffers punishment or rejection or a
similar unpleasant consequence. (5) She is rescued, and her son is born. Yet, just
as in the case of heroes, the lives of heroines reveal astonishing variety and complexity,
which are not easy to summarize.
As the lover or the wife of a hero, a heroine can perform great feats because
of passionate devotion. Ariadne helps Theseus kill the Minotaur, and without
Medea, Jason never could have won the golden fleece. When heroines are abandoned
or betrayed, they can be driven by despair and hatred to wreak a terrifying
revenge or, like Ariadne, find salvation. Heroes can be destroyed by heroines
through cleverness or guile, for example, the murder of Agamemnon by
Clytemnestra or the ruin of Jason by Medea.
Helen of Troy, alluring in her multifaceted nature, has become an archetypal
image. Antigone, devoted daughter and loving sister, by contrast presents for
all time brave and righteous defiance against tyranny. Penelope as wife and
mother offers us a paradigm of intelligence, integrity, and loyalty, her arete a
match and a foil for that of her husband Odysseus. Then there are the Amazons,
every bit like men in their arete, heroes and not heroines with respect to their
prowess and courage in war.
THE MYCENAEAN WORLD AND GREEK SAGA
The cycles of Greek saga are for the most part connected with cities and areas
that were important in the later Bronze Age—that is, from about 1600 to 1100 B.c.