The Labours of Heracles As Labours of Love
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The Labours of Heracles as Labours of Love By Lorenzo Tomescu B.A. (Humanities), Simon Fraser University, 2007 Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Humanities Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Ó Lorenzo Simon Tomescu 2016 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Fall 2016 Approval Name: Lorenzo Tomescu Degree: Master of Arts Title: The Labours of Heracles as Labours of Love Examining Committee: Chair: Samir Gandesha Associate Professor David Mirhady Senior Supervisor Professor Ian Angus Supervisor Professor Eirini Kotsovilli External Examiner Lecturer Hellenic Studies SFU Date October 27th, 2016 Defended/ApProved: ii Abstract In The Birth of Tragedy, Nietzsche describes Euripides’s unique place in the history of Greek thought. This thesis considers the implications of Nietzsche’s case by analyzing Euripides’s fifth-century tragedy Herakles. It argues that, for Euripides, the Heracles figure characterizes the shift from a mythic to a tragic Worldview. As Heracles’s role in myth suggests the struggle of an individual repressed by society, Euripides’s use of allegory, Which he sharply contrasts With tragic realism, reveals the consequences of an increase in self-consciousness. This shift from myth to tragedy suggests the importance of René Girard’s theory of mimetic rivalry and a scapegoat mechanism, the efficacy of which is shown by comparing Heracles and Job. Because an elevated figure is disgraced in both literary Works, the comparison is illustrative of foundational anthropology. Job and Heracles, in their respective traditions, represent the central position of a virtual scapegoat onto whom communal violence is directed, displaced, and even transcended. Keywords: autochthones; polarization; the God of victims and the God of persecutors; foundational anthropology; repression; sparagmos iii Dedication To my mother, for introducing me to philosophy and literature, and my father, who is always ready to listen to my ideas. iv Acknowledgements Firstly, I Would like to express my gratitude to my advisor, Professor David Mirhady, for his continuous guidance and for the inspiring insights he has provided throughout the learning process of this master thesis. Furthermore, I Would like to thank Professor Ian Angus for his Willingness to share his ideas on the philosophy of Nietzsche and to listen to my oWn. Also, I Would like to acknoWledge Wendy Plain, Who has edited this thesis and Who has been remarkably professional and a pleasure to Work with. v Table of Contents Approval ............................................................................................................................ ii Abstract ............................................................................................................................ iii Dedication ........................................................................................................................ iv AcknoWledgements ........................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. vi ChaPter 1 EuriPides’s Herakles as a Mythology of CulPability .................................. 8 EuriPides’s Herakles from Myth to Tragedy ......................................... 35 The Psychoanalytic Perspective and Religiopolitical Aspects of Euripides’s Herakles: Secrecy, SeParation, and Civil Unrest ......... 42 Nietzsche’s Ideas on the Tragic, Girard’s ScaPegoat Mechanism, and a ComParative Analysis of Herakles and Job .......... 51 4.1 Loss, Heroic Individuality, and Religious Ethos: Herakles and the Book of Job .......................................................................................................................... 52 4.2 Charisma and Honour: Herakles and the Book of Job ........................................... 58 4.3 The Myth of Shared Parentage: Herakles and the Book of Job ............................. 66 4.4 Nietzsche’s Theory of the Birth of Tragedy and Girard’s Scapegoat Theory: Herakles and the Book of Job ................................................................................ 71 References ..................................................................................................................... 93 vi Introduction The Athenian playWright Euripides, the last of the three great tragedians, is also considered the most innovative. In his tragedy Herakles—performed c. 416 BCE—he dramatizes the events surrounding the disgrace of the mythological hero famed for achieving a series of labours against exotic forces and mythological monsters. The play exalts the exploits of this exemplary Greek hero, but at the same time depicts civil unrest at the legendary city of Thebes. For example, in the tragedy’s opening moments, Heracles’s wife, Megara, and his mortal father, Amphitryon, are at the altar of Zeus attempting to delay further violence from being brought against them by an upstart tyrant named Lycus, who has murdered the city’s ruler, Megara’ father Creon. By securing the execution of Heracles’s family, Lycus aspires to establish rule over the city. HoWever, Amphitryon pleads for salvation from Zeus, With Whom he shares in the paternity of Heracles. Amphitryon is compelled to argue With Lycus, who claims that Heracles is coWardly. It is apparent from this scenario that the Theban crisis arises as a result of Heracles’s absence from Thebes: Heracles is occupied by his last labour, to retrieve the three-headed hound of Hades, Cerberus, and remains absent as Megara and Amphitryon protect the lives of his sons and defend his reputation. Heracles has undertaken these labours for Eurystheus, the king of Argos, in an attempt to regain Amphitryon’s birthright to this Mycenaean stronghold. According to Lycus, the heralds of the king have reported that Heracles is dead. At this rumor, Megara and Amphitryon lose their hope that Heracles will reappear. Despite their resistance, Lycus resolves to carry out the execution of Heracles’s family, and just as this happens, Heracles fortuitously returns. Heracles joyfully reunites With his family, yet he is angered to see them wearing the robes of ritual sacrifice. He expresses his desire to take revenge on all the Thebans Who support the tyrant. Fearing that those Thebans who have supported the tyrant could now suddenly unite against him, Amphitryon urges Heracles to ambush and kill Lycus Within the palace chambers, and before setting off to carry out this action, Heracles hurriedly explains to Amphitryon that he has kept 1 Cerberus at Demeter’s grove. It is subsequently revealed that Heracles is triumphant and has satisfied his revenge against Lycus. The chorus of Theban old men, enjoying the good fortune of Heracles’s return, respond by singing his praises. At this point, they are interrupted by the sight of Hera’s servants, Iris and Lyssa, the goddess of madness, who appear above the house. Iris explains to the frightened chorus that they have not come to hurt the city. Instead, now that Heracles has completed his labours and Zeus no longer protects him, they have arrived at Hera’s orders to inflict Heracles With a sudden frenzy. Hera fears that, if Heracles is not punished, the gods Will be diminished While men are exalted. But Madness is reluctant to carry out her task against a hero Who has benefited mankind. It is clear from Iris’s response that Lyssa cannot resist Hera’s authority, so as Heracles prepares a sacrifice to Zeus out of gratitude for his fortunate return, he is suddenly seized by madness. In his madness, Heracles imagines an extension of his mythical labours: after travelling to Megara and around the isthmus of Corinth to Mycenae, he believes he carries out revenge on Eurystheus by slaying this king’s children. The vision is pure delusion. As reported by a messenger, Heracles in fact kills his Wife Megara and their three children. Finally, When Heracles attempts to kill his mortal father, Amphitryon, Athena intercedes by striking him and leaving him unconscious. Fearing further destruction, Amphitryon has his slaves bind Heracles to the palace pillars that have been toppled by the hero’s fury. Eventually, Heracles awakes, believing that the destruction he sees around him may mean that he has somehoW returned to the underWorld from Which he recently retrieved Cerberus and rescued his friend Theseus. As he directs Heracles to look upon the dead, Amphitryon helps him to recognize his mistake. It is nearly too much for Heracles, and, in his grief, he expresses his desire for death. Having received Word of the Theban conflict, Theseus arrives With an army, and in an effort to console his friend and encourage him to remain among the living, Theseus suggests that Hera alone is responsible for Heracles’s downfall. Furthermore, he encourages Heracles to consider that the gods, like human beings, are flawed. However, seeing the gods as imperfect beings strikes Heracles as disagreeable, and he responds that he cannot believe the gods, like humans, are plagued by desire. Despite 2 this, in his debate With Theseus, Heracles realizes that, even though he has killed his family With his arms and carries the pollution for his crimes, as a hero, he is still responsible for protecting himself and others With these very same tools — perhaps even more responsible. Heracles thus accepts Theseus’s offer of Wealth and refuge at Athens and resolves to free himself, unquestionably,