Perseus and Heracles are often seen by different groups of readers as typical heroes (of differing types). But what is a typical hero?
To address the main question with suitable breadth this essay attempts to deliberate the heroes Perseus and Heracles against three types of hero seen in literature (the Epic, the Tragic, and the Heroic Figure), before correlating our subjects against some varying popular theories on typical hero patterns, and finishing with a brief look at their relevance to famous internalist myth interpretations.
We start with the mythical, Epic Hero – what the wider audience might commonly associate with the term 'typical (Greek) hero'.
While neither hero plays a prominent role in the Iliad - that sure-fire way of being classified an epic hero – it is fair to say that both show the extraordinary courage and skill of an Achilles or Theseus (perhaps as a result of divine ancestry), and often in the vain of Odysseus or Theseus they utilise these attributes in doing away with some monstrous enemy (cyclops[1], minotaur[2]); Heracles against the Hydra or Nemean Lion[3], and Perseus against the Gorgon Medusa[4].
In the manifestation of this courage and skill while Heracles shares the Trojan hero's penchant for hand to hand combat[5], a means of perpetuating and extending their reputation as unsurpassable warriors (the masculine archetype[6]), Perseus prefers to do away with his foes using mostly tools of a magical nature[7] - perhaps because his goals are more altruistic than those of his counterparts. It seems he has a noble goal to achieve (often the emancipation of females) rather than something to prove, and immortality is not as high on his agenda as survival – a contrast to the theme of pursuing death to achieve immortality[8] seen with Achilles or Theseus.
The appetites don't stop at immortality; Heracles' is as extraordinary as his feats – impregnating 50 girls in a night, unyoking an Ox when hungry[9].
Perseus deviates by being more content with his current lot – happily returning his magic instruments once done with them post-adventure[10].
While Heracles is not associated with the intelligence of an Odysseus, he has moments (driving away the Stymphalian birds[11]), and Perseus shows innovative strategy in entering the Gorgons cave backwards using his shield[12] – reminiscent of Odysseus-like ingenuity.
Another theme here is divine intervention; we see heroes manipulated by gods (positively and negatively) throughout the Trojan War, Odysseus both thwarted and assisted in the Odyssey, and the theme continued with both our subjects.
Perseus is guided and assisted by Athena[13] (like Odysseus) throughout his adventure, being provided weapons and tools to aid his journey, while Heracles life is heavily influenced by the jealous wrath of Hera[14] – from playpen snakes, to madness that murders his family, to manipulation of the Delphic Oracle that compounds his expiation[15].
The founder-protector theme is extended to Heracles in his pan-Hellenic role across multiple regions[16], and more complexly perhaps for Perseus - women.
An area Perseus deviates strongly from all other heroes is in his positive relationship with women. From Jason to Heracles women pose problems and are treated poorly – either being killed[17] or abandoned (in Jason's case after significant help[18]). But Perseus' adventure is for his mother[19], assisted by Athena, involves the rescue of Andromeda whom he later marries.
An interesting counterpoint however, is his slaughter of the women in Pausanias 2.20.4[20] which might contradict the conclusion of Perseus being good to women.
However depending on interpretation this heroic point lost could might be regained through the 'defeats Amazons' category, something most good epic heroes cover (Heracles, Theseus, Bellerophon, Achilles[21]).
One final note is the hilltop theme; Heracles, Oedipus, Theseus, and Bellerophon are being laid to rest on a hilltop[22], with Perseus omitted from the pattern.
Next we turn to the Tragic Hero seen commonly in plays and drama.
Simply, Perseus doesn't fit here. Not only absent from the tragic plays, he is - aside from the shame of killing his grandfather[23] - relatively free from tragedy. When he returns from adventure to further strife, he simply overcomes it[24].
Heracles however - his personality is never brought together way Perseus' is[25].
As with the postaward reversal of Jason, Agamemnon, and Oedipus, tragedy strikes Heracles after fame[26] (even if this results in the 12 labours, arguably his most famous adventures) - Hera inspired madness (shared with Ajax[27]) that drives him to kill his family.
If tragedy's purpose is as a morality play on the consequences of uncontrolled humanity, then maybe Heracles is a deserving protagonist.
He exemplifies the ambivalent hero soul – torn between a capacity to transcend the normal human condition and an excessive brutality that drags it down to feral animalism and self destruction[28]. So often, scholars sometimes categorise him as centaur-like[29]; illustrated by accidentally killing a water boy[30], throwing Iphitus from a tower[31], and ultimately, perhaps in killing his family[32]. Not the first hero whose attributes (brute strength) are their undoing – Oedipus' riddle solving so useful earlier eventually unravels his fate[33].
Heracles familial destruction also has allusions to Oedipus' tale. A cutting twist, but part of tragedy's aim to explore pain and defeat – experiences a hero does not take kindly to, but reflect the truth of life in excess to match their other extremes. The depth of anguish defines the depth of heroism[34], and heroes need to be most heroic to come through victorious.
Then what of the Heroic Figure? The character honoured for brave and noble deeds; a category in which even historic individuals could be heroes[35].
While our subjects might not strictly be heroic figures, there appear parallels between religious and political applications of heroic figures and our subjects within historical societies, plus the lines of myth can get blurred when stories of real people become grossly embellished[36] - Alexander the Great used Heracles and his cult to enhance his reputation, Heracles supposedly visiting him during the siege of Tyre and worshippers caught from the enemy camp given lenient treatment[37] - Heracles and Theseus were even both reported as fighting alongside Marathon in his eponymous battle[38].
Robert Parker describes heroes as a “a figure less powerful than a god to whom cult was
paid”[39]. Focussing on cult we see heroes as a part of community life in ancient Greece. Typically honoured locally, a her would have shrines and temples dedicated to them[40].
Perseus and Heracles both had cults associated with them[41], though Heracles was a rare exception to the norm with his pan-Hellenic appeal[42]. It is suggested Theseus was invented as an Athenian alternative to Heracles (pride of Sparta)[43], but still such was the Heracleian appeal Athenians lay claim to being first at making Heracles a god[44]. Indeed his appeal lingered through to the Romans, who perpetuated his myth and constructed a Heracleian altar of their own[45].
Heroic figures also had political contexts, Brasidas became cult figure of the Amphipolitans after the Athenian/Spartan bond broke down and worshipping Hagnon became inconvenient[46], and so we see Perseus and Heracles associated with the Argolid region (Sparta, Thebes), while Attic Athens promoted the feats of Theseus in competitive rivalry[47] (literature often focussed around the city/state which laid claim to any particular hero).
Finally those such as Brasidas and Marathon were famous for protecting their people from outside invasion[48]. This theme might be said to be seen in the Amazon theme repeated throughout the myths of Heracles, Achilles, Theseus and others (see previous comments for Perseus' ambiguous encounter with female warriors).
In researching for heroic patterns, the theories of Lord Raglan[49] and Joseph Campbell[50] were prevalent, both ideas formatted as an extension to the 'rite of passage' motif; departure-testing-triumph-return[51].
Lord Raglan lays out 22 criteria[52] in his analysis, followed by outlines of popular hero stories using only items from his list, and a score card for each hero. Scepticism without serious research questions how selective the 18 heroes that Lord Raglan chose were, but nevertheless his argument is convincing and scores both Perseus (16/22) and Heracles (17/22)[53] reasonably high enough to put them into the category of 'typical hero' according to his criteria.
Notable missing items for Perseus are the hilltop theme, and any loss of favour with the gods or his people/city resulting in loss of throne.
With Heracles, the non absence of a childhood narrative (discussed in the next section) is worth mentioning as this as an apparently a rare characteristic of myth[54], again he also does not lose favour with the gods.
Applying the same technique to Joseph Campbell's 17 point “monomyth” (6 Separation, 6 Initiation, 5 Return)[55] we can score 11 for Perseus, points mainly lost for his good relations with women, but also because he neither refuses the call or return.
Heracles more disappointing scores 8, though this could be extended to 11 if you count aspects of his psychological journey as pattern events – “the belly of the whale”[56] standing out. Perhaps the plethora of tales incorporating Heracles outgrows the single start to finish myth more easily recognisable in Perseus, Gilgamesh, Odysseus etc.. and therefore makes his story more difficult to tie down in one pattern. I would dismiss the notion of his 12 labours being a rite of passage precisely for this reason.
Finally, myth interpretation theories and how our heroes relate to common typified perspectives.
As an aetiological interpretation, our subjects fall rather short. Their only notable contribution being the a constellation and the milky way[57].
As for ritual interpretations, we've already discussed their role in cult, ritual and community. But this runs deeper when you consider the charter interpretation which frames the relevance of Heracles myth manipulation to keep communities in order[58].
The missing narrative of childhood in Perseus and many other heroes (conspicuously present with Heracles), is suggested by Lord Raglan as an allusion between myth and ritual – children often taking no part in ritual between birth and manhood[59].
From a Jungian interpretation, archetypes abound – most obviously the masculine archetype of the hero[60], which is not represented so clearly in Perseus with his feminine rapport (anima and animus in harmony?) and the lack of the brawn so typified by Heracles. Harris & Platzner suggest Heracles and Perseus both through their tragedies and journeys experience the Jungian individuation process by fulfilling their innate potential[61].
The ambivalence of the hero soul typified by Achilles and Heracles, but not Perseus, might be interpreted by structuralists as the minds binary organisation.
Lastly, from a Freudian perspective what deserves most attention is Perseus' unusually positive relationship with women[62]. To suggest killing the Medusa is freeing him from what he hates maternally[63] seems simplistic when you know his mission's purpose is to save his maternal (mother) figure. Heracles tragedy may be an extension of the dream theory whereby taboos are lived out through dream and or myth – perhaps an the unhappy family life represented.
This essay discusses how both Heracles and Perseus conform and deviate from the hero norm seen through different perspectives.
Both heroes share encounters with the fantastical, roles in politics, religious cult, and exhibit Jungian archetypes through their myths.
However while Perseus experiences his typical rite of passage and then atypically settles down, Heracles atypically does not have a single rite of passage and more typically portrays the ambivalent torn personality more destined for destruction.
It is clear both Perseus and Heracles are typical heroes, but in very different ways from each other.
What is less clear, is what it truly means to be a typical hero.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Anderson, Andrew Runni. 'Heracles and His Successors: A Study of a Heroic Ideal and the Recurrence of a Heroic Type', Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 39 (1928), pp. 7-58
Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces (Cleveland, 1968), 3-40
Crane, Gregory. 'The "Odyssey" and Conventions of the Heroic Quest', Classical Antiquity, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Apr., 1987), pp. 11-37
Dowden, Ken. The Uses of Greek Mythology (London, 1992) Chpt. 8, pp. 121-149
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4. 13. 2 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek historian C1st B.C.) http://www.theoi.com/Ther/OrnithesStymphalides.html
Galinsky, C. K. The Herakles Theme: The Adaptions of the Hero in Literature from Homer to the Twentieth Century (Oxford, 1972) Chpt. III, pp. 40-80
Harris, S. L. & Platzner, G. Classical Mythology (New York, 2008)
Lord Raglan, 'The Hero of Tradition', Folklore, Vol. 45, No. 3 (Sep., 1934), pp. 212-231
Parker, R. 'Greek Religion' in J. Boardman, J. Griffin and O. Murray, eds The Oxford History of the Classical World, (Oxford, 1986) pp. 254-274
Pausanias, Description of Greece, W.H.S. Jones,and H.A. Ormerod, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.
Plato. R.G. Bury. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1967. Plato Laws 738d
Taylor, Archer. 'The Biographical Pattern in Traditional Narrative', Journal of the Folklore Institute, Vol. 1, No. 1/2 (1964), pp. 114-129
Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War. Richard Crawley. London, J. M. Dent; New York, E. P. Dutton. 1910.
[1] Homer, "Odyssey" (trans. Stanley Lombardo) Book 9. Harris, S. L. & Platzner, G. Classical Mythology (New York, 2008)
[3] ibid. pp. 332
[4] ibid. pp. 320
[5] ibid. pp. 23, 383
[6] ibid. pp. 163
[7] ibid. pp. 320
[8] ibid. pp. 314
[10] Harris & Platzner, op.cit.,pp. 322
[11] Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4. 13. 2 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek historian C1st B.C.) http://www.theoi.com/Ther/OrnithesStymphalides.html
[12] Harris & Platzner, op.cit.,pp. 320
[13] ibid. pp. 320
[14] ibid. pp. 324
[15] Harris & Platzner, op.cit.,pp. 325
[16] Parker, R. 'Greek Religion' in J. Boardman, J. Griffin and O. Murray, eds The Oxford History of the Classical World, (Oxford, 1986) pp. 256
[17] Harris & Platzner, op.cit.,pp. 324
[18] ibid. pp. 342
[19] ibid. pp. 319
[20] Dowden, op.cit., pp. 143
[21] Harris & Platzner, op.cit.,pp. 347
[22] Lord Raglan, op.cit.,pp. 228
[23] Harris & Platzner, op.cit.,pp. 323
[24] ibid. pp. 322
[25] ibid. pp. 24
[26] ibid. pp. 3
[27] ibid. pp. 387
[28] ibid. pp. 311
[29] ibid. pp. 318, 323
[30] Dowden, op.cit., pp. 140
[31] Galinsky, C. K. The Herakles Theme: The Adaptions of the Hero in Literature from Homer to the Twentieth Century (Oxford, 1972) Chpt. III, pp. 47
[32] Harris & Platzner, op.cit.,pp. 324
[33] ibid. pp. 553
[34] ibid. pp. 554
[35] Parker, op.cit., pp. 256
[36] Lord Raglan, op.cit.,pp. 229
[37] Anderson, Andrew Runni. 'Heracles and His Successors: A Study of a Heroic Ideal and the Recurrence of a Heroic Type', Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 39 (1928), pp. 14
[38] Pausanias, Description of Greece, W.H.S. Jones,and H.A. Ormerod, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. 1.15.3
[39] Parker, op.cit., pp. 256
[40] Plato. R.G. Bury. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1967. Plato Laws 738d
[41] Harris & Platzner, op.cit.,pp. 315
[42] Parker, op.cit., pp. 256
[43] Harris & Platzner, op.cit.,pp. 338
[44] Galinsky, op.cit., pp. 41
[45] Harris & Platzner, op.cit.,pp. 891
[46] Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War. Richard Crawley. London, J. M. Dent; New York, E. P. Dutton. 1910. 4.102.1-2; 5.11.1
[47] Harris & Platzner, op.cit.,pp. 315
[48] Pausanias,op.cit., 1.15.3
[49] Lord Raglan, op.cit., pp. 212-231
[50] J. Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (Cleveland, 1968), 3-40
[51] Harris & Platzner, op.cit.,pp. 322
[52] Lord Raglan, op.cit.,pp. 212-213
[53] Lord Raglan, op.cit.,pp. 215
[54] Lord Raglan, op.cit.,pp. 223
[55] Campbell, op.cit., 36-37
[56] Campbell, op.cit., 36
[57] Harris & Platzner, op.cit.,pp. 192-193, 323, 324
[58] Harris & Platzner, op.cit.,pp. 44
[59] Lord Raglan, op.cit.,pp. 223
[60] Harris & Platzner, op.cit.,pp. 163
[61] Harris & Platzner, op.cit.,pp. 51
[62] Harris & Platzner, op.cit.,pp. 311
[63] Harris & Platzner, op.cit.,pp. 46
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