Rediscovering Homer: The Concept of the Hero(Part III)
荷马再发现之三：英雄观
Harvard@home
哈佛远程教学项目
【说明】
这是哈佛大学首批推出的远程教育项目之一：荷马再发现(系列讲座③)
主讲人：
格雷戈里·纳吉（Gregory Nagy）：哈佛大学弗朗西斯·琼斯杰出教授，国际著名的古典学家、希腊文学专家、口头诗学理论家、印欧语音韵学家。艾伯特·洛德(Albert B. Lord)的弟子，现任哈佛大学希腊研究中心主任。
讲座内容：
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The Concept of the Hero
When we consider the Hero in ancient Greek culture, from the start we must 'de-familiarize' our notion of what a hero is. The ancient Greek concept of a hero was different from our own culture's. First and foremost, the ancient Greek hero was a religious figure, a dead person who received cult honors and was expected in return to bring prosperity, especially in the form. of fertility of plants (crops) and animals, to the community. To learn more about the cult worship of heroes, see Gregory Nagy's Relevant facts about ancient Greek hero cults.
The hero is also a literary figure, of course, but here, too, we need caution so that we do not misapply our own cultural ideas and standards to the ancient Greek hero. A key part to the narrative of the hero's life is that s/he undergoes some sort of ordeal. The hero, who is mortal, not immortal like the gods, must suffer during his or her lifetime, and, significantly, must die. Only after death can the hero receive immortalization in cult and in song.
The hero must struggle against the fear of death, in order to achieve the most perfect death. Such a perfect moment must be recorded in song, kleos. Kleos means 'glory, fame, that which is heard'; OR, 'the poem or song that conveys glory, fame, that which is heard'). To say it another way: this word kleos was used to refer to both the medium and the message of the glory of heroes.
Within the Iliad itself, Achilles is acutely aware of the possibility of receiving kleos. In Iliad 9, Odysseus, Ajax, and Phoinix come to Achilles to try to convince him to return to fighting. They find him singing klea andrôn 'the glories of men' (Iliad 9.189). Achilles is acting as poet, singing songs about heroic deeds. After they relate to him all the riches and prizes that Agamemnon is offering if he will return to battle, Achilles replies by saying what is at stake for him and what his choice means. He says at Iliad 9. 410-416:
My mother Thetis tells me that there are two ways in which I may meet my end [telos]. If I stay here and fight, I shall lose my safe homecoming [nostos] but I will have a glory [kleos] that is unwilting [aphthiton]: whereas if I go home my glory [kleos] will die, but it will be a long time before the outcome [telos] of death shall take me.
Achilles already knows the consequences of his decision to reject the option of a safe homecoming. He is in the process of deciding to choose the other option: he will stay at Troy and continue to fight in the Trojan War. This choice will result in his death, and he knows it, but he is ready to give up his life in exchange for getting a kleos that will never "wilt." Unlike natural flowers that go through the cycle of blooming and then wilting, this unnatural flower, this kleos, will forever stay the same, never losing its color, aroma, and overall beauty.
The songs sung for heroes and the cult honors given to them in worship and festivals, including athletic festivals, celebrated in their honor, are an attempt to provide compensation for the death of the hero. because this death can never be made up for completely, however, these honors are considered ongoing and never-ending. they are performed on a seasonally recurring basis and those who particpate in the worship believe that it will continue forever, thus providing a way for the hero to be immortalized, to live on forever.
[Video Clip 1]
Like a natural flower, Achilles will "wilt." But his kleos will never wilt because it is not a thing of nature: it is a thing of art, a song. This kleos is the story of Troy, the Iliad (the name of the poem means 'story of Ilion = Troy'). Achilles the hero gets into the Iliad by dying a warrior's death. The consolation prize for his death is the kleos of the Iliad.
For more on the general characteristics of the hero, see the example of Herakles.
Herakles as Hero and the Story of Herakles in the Iliad
[Video Clip 2]
The three general characteristics of the hero are (1) s/he is extreme, in both good and bad ways; (2) s/he is unseasonal; and (3) s/he has a ritually antagonistic relationship with the god or goddess most like him/her. This relationship is for the hero a sort of fatal attraction. The example of Herakles, the best known Panhellenic hero, shows these qualties well. He is extreme in that he can accomplish feats that no other mortal can (in addition to the Labors, Herakles is also the mortal who is the key ally in the gods' victory over the giants in the Gigantomachy). He also can do extremely horrific acts, like killing his wife and children in a murderous rage.
That Herakles is unseasonal is seen in his name and life story. The ancient Greek word for natural time, natural life, natural life-cycle, was hôra. Other definitions: 'season, seasonality; time; timeliness'. (The English word hour is derived from Greek hôra.)
The goddess of hôra (plural hôrai) was Hêra (the two forms hôra and Hêra are related to each other). She was the goddess of seasons, in charge of making everything happen on time, happen in season, happen in a timely way, etc. Herakles = Hêraklês 'he who has the kleos of Hêra'. As we saw in our previous discussion of the concept of the hero, the hero is one who has kleos. The kleos of Herakles comes from Hera, who is also his ritually antagontistic god.
That Hera, who controls seasonality, is important for any hero can be seen in that the word meaning 'hero', hêrôs, is related to these two words hôra and Hêra. An important qualification: the hero is unseasonal during his/her lifetime. The precise moment when everything comes together for the hero is the moment of death. The hero is "on time" at the hôra or 'time' of death.
来源：Harvard@Home
