Labor V: the Augean stables

Fiona Mitchell

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

The first half of the volume is devoted to the exposition of the ancient evidence, literary and iconographic, for the traditions of Heracles’ life and deeds. After a chapter each on the hero’s childhood and his madness, the canonical cause of his Twelve Labors, each of the Labors themselves receives detailed treatment in a dedicated chapter. The “Parerga” or “Side-Labors” are then treated in a similar level of detail in seven further chapters. In the second half, the Heracles tradition is analyzed from a range of thematic perspectives. After consideration of the contrasting projections of the figure across the major literary genres, epic, tragedy, comedy, philosophy, and in the iconographic register, a number of his myth-cycle’s diverse fils rouges are pursued: Heracles’ fashioning as a folkloric quest-hero; his relationships with the two great goddesses, the Hera that persecutes him and the Athena that protects him; and the rationalization and allegorization of his cycle’s constituent myths. The ways are investigated in which Greek communities and indeed Alexander the Great exploited the figure both in the fashioning of their own identities and for political advantage. The cult of Heracles is considered in its Greek manifestation, in its syncretism with that of the Phoenician Melqart, and in its presence at Rome, the last study leading into discussion of the use made of Heracles by the Roman emperors themselves and then by early Christian writers. A final chapter offers an authoritative perspective on the limitless subject of Heracles’ reception in the western tradition.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Oxford Handbook of Heracles
EditorsDaniel Ogden
PublisherOxford University Press
Pages80-94
Number of pages15
ISBN (Electronic)9780190651008, 9780190650995
ISBN (Print)9780190650988, 9780190651015
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2021

Keywords

  • Augeas
  • stables
  • Alpheus
  • Olympia
  • river
  • payment
  • cattle
  • Pindar
  • Theocritus
  • Apollodorus

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