Heroes in the Epic Tradition

Characteristics of the Epic

One good place to find heroes is in epic poetry. You will read one epic in this class, The Epic of Gilgamesh, but I assume that you have read others as well. If not, bone up a bit on the Iliad, Odyssey and the Aeneid. Epics provide the stage upon which a great many heroes of the Ancient and Medieval worlds operate. These are the epic heroes, and they include Gilgamesh, Achilles, Odysseus, Hector, Aeneas, Roland, and a host of lesser luminaries. Epics are not the sole possession of the West, but are mostly so. There are two important Indian epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, which largely follow the same basic rules of the epics with which you are familiar. The important characteristics of epics include:

1. They were originally long, orally transmitted stories, sung or recited by a bard to listeners.
   

2. The main characters are heroes, often demi-gods, or kings, whose actions are the focus of the story.
   

3. In an age before philosophy, epics represent an explanation for all kids of things — relationships between humans and gods, appropriate behavior for humans, the behavior and functions of the gods, and basic rules for a society. The Mahabharata, for instance, contains within itself a long, well-reasoned discourse on the duties of a warrior, as well as a complex statement of various Hindu philosophies. The 700 verses of the Indian epic is called the Bhagavad Gita, which means the “song of God.”
   

4. There is some relationship between heroes and the gods, or more likely, a complicated interrelationship between gods who are allied with, or support the hero, and gods who are arrayed against him.
   

5. The epic usually begins in media res, which means, “in the middle of things.” Usually this means that the background events of the epic have been unfolding before the story that the epic touches upon begins. For instance, in the Iliad we are told that the events that the bard describes take place during the greater story of the war itself, which has been going on for many years. The Story in the Gilgamesh epic represents a chunk taken out of the life of the great king.
   

6. Epics contain confrontations between adversaries that both prove the greatness of the hero, and resolve the tensions of the story.

Above: The Indian hero, Arjuna is guided and supported by the god Krishna.

Below: Odysseus (left) with the goddess Athena.

Jason Builds his ship, the Argos. A modern painting by William Russell Flint.

1. The hero is introduced in the midst of turmoil, at a point well into the story; necessary earlier action will be recounted in flashbacks.
   

2. The hero is not only a warrior and a leader, but also a polished speaker who can address councils of chieftains or elders with eloquence and confidence.
   

3. The hero, often a demi-god, possesses distinctive weapons of great size and power, often heirlooms or presents from the gods.
   

4. Although his fellows may be great warriors (like Achilles and Beowulf), and he may have a commitatus, or group of noble followers with whom he grew up, the hero undertakes a task that no one else dare attempt.
   

5. A hero has a companion or companions. Sometimes his companion is a patron deity who enlightens and guides him through his labors. For example, Athena guides and helps Odysseus through the last part of his trials.
   

6. Whatever virtues his race most prizes, the epic hero possesses these in abundance as a cultural exemplar. His key quality is often emphasized by his stock epithet: "Resourceful Odysseus," "swift-footed Achilles," "pious Aeneas."
   

7. The concept of arete (Greek for "bringing virtue to perfection") is crucial to understanding the epic protagonist. The hero establishes his aristeia (nobility) through single combat with an equal. A hero gains little honor by slaying a lesser mortal, but only by challenging heroes like himself or adversaries of superhuman power.
   

8. The hero must undertake a long, perilous journey, often involving a descent into the Underworld , which tests his endurance, courage, and cunning.

Characteristics of the Epic Hero

1. The hero dies and is reborn. This process is often a metaphorical death. The hero might go to the Underworld (the land of the dead) as in the Odyssey and the Aeneid,  or he may experience the death of a close friend that brings about a symbolic death/rebirth in the character of the hero (Achilles in the Iliad).
   

2. The two great epic adversaries, the hero and his antagonist, meet at the climax of the epic. The hero's epic adversary is often a "god-despiser," one who has more respect for his own mental and physical abilities than for the power of the gods. Good examples of such are the suitors in the Odyssey and Duryodhana, the antagonist of the Mahabharata. The adversary might also be a good man sponsored by lesser deities, or one whom the gods desert at a crucial moment. The best example of this kind of antagonist is Hector in the Iliad.
   

According to Hesiod there were Five Ages:

1. The Gold Age; the earliest, the Age of Creation.
   

2. The Silver Age; starts when Zeus begins his rule.
   

3. The Bronze Age; a time of war and violence.
   

4. The Heroic Age; as its name suggests, was the period when heroes walked the earth. It was the period of Mycenae, Thebes and the Trojan War.
   

5. The Iron Age; Hesiod’s time, when the lives of humans are dominated by toil and struggle. 
   

If we want to get historical about it, the Heroic Age would fall within that period that we call the Dark Age of Greece (c. 1100-750 B.C.), but here we are being too literal in our chronological assumptions. If there was a war of some sort at Troy, and if some of the heroes actually existed, the events and individuals may have existed right at the end of the Bronze Age (around 1250 B.C.), the end of the Mycenaean Period, or at the very beginning of the Dark Age. The truth of the matter is that we will never know the extent of the historicity of the Age of Heroes. But, the stories sure are cool!

Virtually all of the Greek heroes who find their way into other Greek myths appear in the Iliad or the Odyssey. Even heroes who did not take part in the Trojan War show up in passing in Homer’s epics. Oedipus, for example is mentioned briefly in both the Iliad and the Odyssey. Similarly Jason and his ship are mentioned in the Odyssey.

"...One ship alone, one deep-sea craft sailed clear,

the Argo, sung by the world, when heading home

from Aeetes' shores. And she would have crashed

against those giants rocks and sunk at once if Hera, for the love of Jason, had not sped her through."

XII 75-80

We can assume that many of the heroes that Homer touches upon in this manner had stories, or perhaps even epics of their own. Homer, and other bards, tried to mention as many heroes as possible in their stories, because the aristoi who hired them and listened to their songs traced their lineage back to Greek heroes. It was only good business to include as many hero’s names as possible in your songs; who knows, you might get another gig that way.

In our discussion of heroes we will expand on the epic heroes that we know — Gilgamesh, Achilles, Odysseus and so forth, and see if the Patriarchs of Genesis in the Old Testament, specifically Abraham and Joseph, also fit into the stereotypical mold. We might also try to examine their stories and see if they might contain the characteristics of the epic.