Bellerophon: Heroic Hubris

Bellerophon is a hero of Greek mythology considered to be one of the greatest slayers of monsters, alongside Cadmus and Perseus, before the days of Heracles. His greatest feat was killing the Chimera, a monster that Homer depicted with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail: "her breath came out in terrible blasts of burning flame."

Bellerophon, is said to have been born in Corinth and was the son of the mortal Eurynome and either her husband Glaucus, king or Corinth, or Poseidon. Bellerophon was exiled after murdering his brother or another ruler of the Corinthians and was sent to Proetus, king in Tiryns, a Mycenaean stronghold of the Argolid. Proetus cleansed Bellerophon of his crime but when Proetus' wife took a fancy to Bellerophon ans was rejected, she accused the young man of ravishing her.

Proetus dared not satisfy his anger by killing a guest (who is protected by xenia), so he sent Bellerophon to King Iobates his father-in-law, in the plain of the River Xanthus in Lycia, bearing a sealed message in a folded tablet: "Pray remove the bearer from this world: he attempted to violate my wife, your daughter." Before opening the tablets, Iobates feasted with Bellerophon for nine days. On reading the tablet's message Iobates too feared the wrath of the Erinyes if he murdered a guest.

So he sent Bellerophon on a mission that he deemed impossible: to kill the fearsome Chimera, living in neighboring Caria. Polyeidos told Bellerophon that he would have need of Pegasus, the untamed winged horse, and told him to sleep in the temple of Athena where Bellerophon dreamed that Athena gave him a magical golden bridle to charm the steed.

Using the bridle, Bellerophon captured and mounted Pegasus and flew off to slay the chimera. When he arrived in Lycia, the Chimera was truly ferocious, and he could not harm the monster even while riding on Pegasus. He felt the heat of the breath the Chimera expelled, and was struck with an idea. He got a large block of lead and mounted it on his spear. Then he flew head-on towards the Chimera, holding out the spear as far as he could. Before he broke off his attack, he managed to lodge the block of lead inside the Chimera's throat. The beast's fire-breath melted the lead, blocked its air passage, and suffocated the monster.

When he returned to King Iobates, though, the king would not believe him and, as with Heracles, gave Bellerophon many other challenges. But, As Bellerophon's fame grew, so did his arrogance. Bellerophon felt that because of his victory over the Chimera, he deserved to fly to Mount Olympus, the home of the gods.

However, this act of hubris angered Zeus and he sent a gadfly to sting the horse, causing Bellerophon to fall off the horse and back to Earth. Pegasus, though, completed the flight to Olympus where Zeus used him as a pack horse for his thunderbolts. On the Plain of Aleion ("Wandering") in Cilicia, Bellerophon (who had fallen into a thorn bush causing him to become blind) lived out his life in misery, grieving and shunning the haunts of men until he died.

Bellerophon Roman mosaic from Autun (Saône-et-Loire, France) at the Musée Rolin courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Félix Potuit

Bellerophon and the Chimera on the surface of an Attic red-figure epinetron (thigh-protector used by a woman when weaving), ca. 425–420 BCE at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Marsyas

Bellerophon pebble mosaic at the Archaeological Museum in Rhodes by Wikimedia Commons contributor Speravir,

Bellerophon relief photographed at Karacasu, Aydin, Turkey courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor William Neuheisel

Image: Wine Cup with Bellerophon Fighting the Chimera Greek made in Lakonia 570-565 BCE Terracotta photographed at the Getty Villa by Mary Harrsch.

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Death of a Hero: Meleager in Ancient Roman Art

 Meleager's body born away on a Roman sarcophagus at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Meleager was a Calydonian prince as the son of Althaea and the vintner, King Oeneus, although in some versions of the myth, the god Ares. Like a number of mythological heroes, Meleager was fated to die young by the Moirai (the Fates) who predicted he would only live until a piece of wood, burning in the family hearth, was consumed by fire. Overhearing them, his mother, Althaea, immediately doused the hearth and hid wood.

When Meleager grew to manhood, his father, King Oeneus, ordered Meleager to gather up heroes from all over Greece to hunt the Calydonian Boar that had been terrorizing the area and rooting up the vinyards needed for the production of his father's wines. The boar was actually sent as a punishment by Artemis after King Oenus neglected to honor Artemis at a festival he held to honor other gods. In addition to the heroes his father named, Meleager also asked Atalanta, a fierce hunter who had been abandoned as an infant and raised by a bear, to participate as well.

Atalanta had taken an oath of virginity to the goddess Artemis but Meleager lusted after her even though he was already married. The other heroes, however, were angry that Meleager had invited a woman to join them. During the course of the hunt, two centaurs, Hyleus and Rhaecus tried to rape Atalanta and they were killed. They were the first to die in the bloodbath that would follow the death of the boar. Atalanta wounded the boar then Meleager dispatched it with his spear. But, Meleager awarded Atalanta the hide since she had drawn the first drop of blood.

Meleager's uncles, the brothers of his mother Althaea, became enraged and attempted to wrest the hide from Atalanta. Meleager jumped to her defense and ended up killing his uncles. When Meleager's mother heard how Meleager had killed her brothers, she snatched up the log she had hidden away all those years ago and cast it upon the fire and Meleager died, as prophesied by the Fates.

In art, the story of the Calydonian boar hunt first appeared on Greek pottery in the 6th century BCE. It remained popular into Roman times and the death of the hero is depicted on several extant marble sarcophagi and sculptures of the second century CE as well an intricately fashioned silver plate of the late 4th century CE found with the much contested Seuso Treasure originally claimed to have been found in Lebanon but in 2008 claimed to be Hungarian by archaeologists pointing to an inscription on the "Hunting Plate", that reads "Pelso", the Roman name for Lake Balaton.

I am always a bit unsettled by the dichotomous nature of Greek heroes. Meleager's story is peppered with the usual mythological aspects of noble lineage and dire prophesy but the tale of one of his main accomplishments, the Calydonian Boar Hunt, is, in the most popular version, really the story of an man overcome with lust for a woman he could not possess and his misdirected passion was so great he slew members of his own family. His defense of Atalanta appears to be very self-serving and not an intervention to protect a "weak" woman. Some versions of the myth even portray him as the actual father of Parthenopeus, Atalanta's son supposedly by Hippomenes, who won the famous footrace and was awarded Atalanta's hand in marriage. (Pathenopeus went on to become one of the famous "Seven Against Thebes.")

Like Achilles, Meleager's death was famous and perhaps that aspect alone warranted his depiction on Roman sarcophagi. Perhaps the deceased was a skilled hunter and that was the attribute being celebrated. But, some background information may shed a slightly different light on the hero's actions, though. Meleager's mother, Althea, was married to Oeneus to help settle a blood feud that had probably gone on for generations. While his uncles came to help with the boar, there still would have been a lot of tension between the Calydonians and Althaea's brothers. In an alternate version of the myth, the quarrel over the prize led to a new war between Curetes and Calydon. This put Meleager in a terrible position, as he had relatives on both sides. Without his leadership, Calydon was on the verge of losing. His wife, Cleopatra, appealed to Meleager to save the city. However, while leading Calydon, he killed his uncles. As a result, his mother cursed him and possibly burned the ill-fated stick of the Fates, condemning him to death by the Erinyes as revenge for his killing of blood relatives. The second version of Meleager's death would at least retain a modicum of its heroic nature. But which version was embraced by Romans decorating their sarcophagi is not known. Of course the distasteful aspects of marital infidelity and lust woven into the popular version of the myth would not necessarily have been viewed adversely by Roman males, whose extramarital philandering was usually tolerated, although their women (including Julius Caesar's) needed to be above suspicion for the preservation of family lineage.

Death of Meleager on a Roman sacophagus photographed at The Louvre, 

The Calydonian Boar hunt on a sarcophagus at The Capitoline Museum, courtesy of Wikimedia contributor Marie-Lan Nguyen

 A sculpture of Meleager and one of his hunting hounds, Roman copy of Greek Skopas original 340-330 BCE at the Antikensammlung in Berlin 

The "Hunting Plate" of the Seuso Treasure courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Elekes Andor.

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Review: The Throne of Caesar by Steven Saylor

A historical resource article by Mary Harrsch © 2018

Gordianus "The Finder," with his 66th birthday approaching, now spends much of his day relaxing in his peristyle garden reading and sipping a cup of the best vintage he can afford.  But some of his old clients can't seem to let him slip away into anonymity.  First Tiro, Cicero's secretary, comes knocking with a request for Gordianus to call upon his master.  Then Meto, Gordianus' oldest adopted son and trusted officer in the service of Gaius Julius Caesar, pays his father a visit. Caesar, now ruling dictator of Rome, also wishes to consult with the old "Finder".

So, we are once more immersed in the politics of a crumbling Roman Republic as Gordianus must brush the cobwebs from his tired brain and consider a list of possible suspects who may be contemplating the assassination of the most powerful man in the Mediterranean world. To help him do this, he decides to retreat to one of his favorite hangouts, the Salacious Tavern, and banter with his old friend Helvius Cinna, the most renowned poet in Rome.

When I began reading this book, I had heard that this was to be the capstone of Steven Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa series. The pace of the novel is leisurely with Gordianus reminiscing about old cases and now dimly remembered characters who once played a role in his life as he meets with famous historical personalities like Cicero, Caesar, Cleopatra, Calpurnia, Cassius, and Brutus . I must admit this was a bit jarring, at first, for me having just read eleven of Anthony Riches' action-packed novels of the Roman Army.  But, I realized that the author was using this opportunity to remind us of why this period of history and this civilization was so memorable, carefully evoking the atmosphere and lifestyles of its inhabitants.

Saylor also spends a significant portion of the book revisiting Greco-Roman mythology and its role in Roman poetry.  Some readers may consider this a bit of an indulgence by the author. But as it turns out, myth is central to the final plot twist.

Mystery has always been the centerpiece of Saylor's novels and this one would be no different. We are given the chance to experience Caesar's fate through the eyes of Gordianus but it is not his death that will take center stage in the novel's climax.

It did appear to me that, sadly, Gordianus' powers of observation have lost some of their acuity and was a painful reminder of the decline I have experienced as advancing age has made its effects felt.  This is made a little more pronounced by the author's third person asides pointing out suspicious behaviors of the conspirators that seemingly went unnoticed. I am just two years older than the fictional hero and found myself cringing each time he referred to himself as an old man.

Fulvia depicted as Phrygia Eumeneia on a coin minted in 41-40 BCE

But, I appreciated the opportunity to explore the characters and motivations of such historical figures as Antony and Fulvia as the story within a story unfolded.  We find Antony is not just the bull-necked riotous playboy often depicted in Octavian's propaganda but a skilled orator and seemingly conscientious, though pragmatic, Roman politician.  In Fulvia, we find a woman not only driven by ambition but a forceful feminist who has learned how to balance Roman-prescribed pudicitia with power obtained from a carefully managed relationship with her marital partner.

So, be forewarned that this is not just a retelling of Caesar's final days, but an evaluation of relationships, missed opportunities, the power of literature, and the weight of responsibility even the "elderly" have to family, to friends and to society.

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Nice video clip of Roman Art From The Louvre Exhibit

Here's a nice video clip of some of the pieces included in the exhibit, "Roman Art from the Louvre", that is now on display at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. I was fortunate to see the exhibit when it opened in the US at the Seattle Art Museum in February.

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