Herakles at the ends of the Earth
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Evans, Hampton
issued: 2022-05-02T15:32:09Z
issued: 2022
related degree: Master of Arts - MA
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: The hero-god Herakles was worshipped across the Mediterranean by the Greeks, from Spain in the west to Bactria in the east. The goal of this paper is to examine one specific facet and use of this figure, how he was utilized in order to justify appropriation of land and territory by the Greeks and legitimize their rule over non-Greek peoples. First, the wildly different versions of Herakles seen in several early sources, including Homer and Hesiod, are examined and discussed. Next, three case studies are examined in order to see how different groups of Greeks utilized and rewrote the story of Herakles to make irridentist claims to territory. The case studies are Sicily, focusing on the sites of Akragas and Agyrium, as well as the account of Diodoros of Sicily; Macedon, focusing first on how the Macedonian kings prior to Alexander used Herakles to claim Greek identity and justify their growing power, before turning to how Alexander himself utilized Herakles to justify his epoch-defining conquest of the Persian Empire and his rule over non-Greeks; and Bactria, focusing especially on the king Demetrios I and how he invoked Herakles and Alexander to justify his rule, building on centuries of narratives to secure their power at this far edge of the Greek world. Finally, the conclusions drawn from these case studies are summarized and tied together to see how Herakles was used to legitimize these claims and the relevance of this study for understanding both the ancient world and its utility for the modern one.
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/81442
note: HERAKLES AT THE ENDS OF THE EARTH by Hampton Evans B.A., University of North Texas, 2020 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Ancient Culture, Religion and Ethnicity) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) April 2022 © Hampton Evans 2022 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the thesis entitled: Herakles at the Ends of the Earth submitted by Hampton Evans in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Ancient Culture, Religion and Ethnicity Examining Committee: Megan Daniels, Associate Professor, Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies, UBC Supervisor Franco De Angelis, Professor, Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies, UBC Supervisory Committee Member iii Abstract The hero-god Herakles was worshipped across the Mediterranean by the Greeks, from Spain in the west to Bactria in the east. The goal of this paper is to examine one specific facet and use of this figure, how he was utilized in order to justify appropriation of land and territory by the Greeks and legitimize their rule over non-Greek peoples. First, the wildly different versions of Herakles seen in several early sources, including Homer and Hesiod, are examined and discussed. Next, three case studies are examined in order to see how different groups of Greeks utilized and rewrote the story of Herakles to make irridentist claims to territory. The case studies are Sicily, focusing on the sites of Akragas and Agyrium, as well as the account of Diodoros of Sicily; Macedon, focusing first on how the Macedonian kings prior to Alexander used Herakles to claim Greek identity and justify their growing power, before turning to how Alexander himself utilized Herakles to justify his epoch-defining conquest of the Persian Empire and his rule over non-Greeks…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2022-11
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0413196
language: eng
degree discipline: Ancient Culture, Religion and Ethnicity
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Daniels, Megan
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/81442