ARCH 0412 From Gilgamesh to Hektor: Heroes of the Bronze Age

March 14, 2016:

Heroes and divine birth, body and strength Final Paper

• Title and 150-200 word abstract : due March 23 • Paper outline and one-page bibliography: due April 15 • Paper draft: Due May 2 • Final submission: Due May 14

In the abstract: - Research question - What types of data are you using? - What is your argument? Title and Abstract Example

Research Question

Data

Answer(s) to your research question: Can be preliminary and change as you write the paper Divine Intervention and the Birth of the Hero Heroes and Divine Creation ‘Belet-ili, you are the lady of the great gods. You have created the lullû-man: create now the King, the ‘circumspect man’!’ (maliku amelu)

Excerpt from VAT 17019, Neo-Babylonian

Cylinder seal and its impression depicting Gilgamesh (on the left) and Enkidu (on the right) killing the Bull of Heaven as Ishtar (far left and far right) tries to prevent them Early 1st millennium BCE Made of chalcedony, 2.9 cm high and 1.3 cm in diameter BM 89435

Divine Intervention and Savior of the Hero Heroes and Divine Guidance

‘My father, Mursilis, begat us four children, Halpasulupis, Muwattallis, Hattusilis and Massanauzzis, a daughter. And of all of them, I was the last (i.e. the youngest) child. And while I was still a child, I was foolish. Ishtar, My Lady, sent my brother Muwattalis to my father Mursilis in (i.e. by means of) a dream, (saying) "For Hattusilis, the years are short. He will not live long. Give him to me and let him be my priest. Then he will live." And my father offered me, a child, and he gave me to the service of the deity. And serving as a priest to the deity, I made sacrifice. And in the hand of Ishtar, My lady, I saw prosperity(?). And Ishtar, My Lady, took me by the hand, and she showed me divine guidance.’

From the Apology of Hattusili III, 13th century BCE King/Hero as More than a Normal Man

‘I knew no father or mother. I grew up in the lap of the goddesses. As a child the great gods guided me, going with me on the right and the left. They established at my side a good genie and a good angel, assigned my life to guardians of well-being and health.’ (From Hymn to the Istars of Nineveh and Arbela, Assurbanipal)

Assurbanipal flanked by two winged genii Southwestern Palace, Room F Nimrud 7th century BCE ‘Mischwesen’: Mixed Beings The (Divine) Body of the Hero Divine Heroes of the Hittites

Tesub slaying Illuyanka, c. 850-800 BCE Arslantepe Divine and Mortal in Hittite Art

The Fraktin relief depicting Hittite king Hattusili III and queen Puduhepa libating to the Storm God and the Sun Goddess, respectively 13th century BCE Divine and Mortal in Mesopotamia

Kassite (1200-1100 BCE) cylinder seal and its impression British Museum, 89232 Divine Stature and Strength

Victory Stele of Naram-Sin 25th century BCE Hero’s Body

Attic Red-figure Hydria: The Ransom of Hector 510-500 BCE Harvard Art Museums 1972.40 The Invulnerable Hero

Centaur Chiron and the infant Achilles Attic red-figure amphora c. 520 BCE Louvre Museum Tethys dipping Achilles into River Styx Thomas Banks, 1789 Heroes and Nudity

“The unrealistic attire of the fighters (in the Temple of Athena Nike) may have been meant to support a generic identification, whereas complete nudity might have entirely removed the action from the human sphere’ (Ridgway 1981, pp. 90-91)

Scenes from the frieze of the Temple of Athena Nike on the Athenian Acropolis depicting historic battles such as Marathon c. 490 BCE Heroes and Nudity

Attic red-figure stamnos: The duel of Achilles and Hektor c. 490 BCE Antiken-sammlungen Museum, Munich 2406 Gemma Augustea 1st century AD