Greek Heroes: The Human versus the Humane ôIn

ôIn Greece all begins with the epic. With it, through it, the Trojan War, which for ten years pitted the Acheans against the Trojans, became the ôaxialö event situated at the edge of history. At first it was only a Greek event, then a Roman one, and finally a Western one. Today, the Trojan War is disputed and even denied, but it was for centuries a shared point of referenceö (Finley 31).

It was the norm for ancient poems and tales to be composed around a central figure known as the epic hero. The epic hero is a character who is marked by paradox. Erich Neuman wrote that the Greek epic hero was ôthe fully individuated human consciousnessö. He is a powerful figure, larger than life, explosive in action and in war, has high moral standards and beliefs, but usually his faults lie in emotional, social and psychological understanding (Austin 128). Neither the Greeks nor the Romans have an exact word to describe the epic hero, but rather describe individuals, normally held to be descended from gods.

A Homeric epic hero believed that men should stand together in battle, respect each other and refrain from excessive cruelty; these were all attributes of a noble warrior, and reflect the values of Greek society and the military at that time. It is important in myths and other morality plays that positive, strong roles demonstrate role models to the audience û that would mean that a ôheroö would be human, but more than that, humane

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s twice put on a par with the son of Neleus, once by Nestor himself who says that he and Odysseus 'with one mind advised the Greeks with wisdom and shrewd counselÆ but he often uses it to deceive rather than to inspire and enlighten. Unlike the Nestor, however, Odysseus is not in a natural position of authority in the Greek camp, which is why he has to rely on trickery and indirect gnomic addresses (Lardinois 641). Scholars often use Odysseus as a literary stereotype that demonstrates a ôdegenerate descendant of the Homeric heroö, one who is attached to victory by any and every means (Rose 90). Mary Whitlock Blundell argues that Odysseus is a political opportunist who finds some of the sophistic theories useful for his purposes (321). Blundell also suggests that OdysseusÆs goals ôjust happen to coincide with the public goodö (313). Nussbaum writes, "the gods... are guided by a standard of behavior more nearly like that of Odysseus than that of Neoptolemus--i.e. they do not (pace Philoctetes) care about justice, but rather about the realization of a successful outcome" (52). In the Odyssey, after the Phoenicians hear his tale, they return Odysseus to Ithaca, his politically insecure homeland, after a 20-year absence. The seco
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Approximate Word count = 2309
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)