Conference Presentations by Valasia Partaliou
Transformation of Hercules in Senecas’ Hercules Furens: a conflict of his soul
Focusing on Hercu... more Transformation of Hercules in Senecas’ Hercules Furens: a conflict of his soul
Focusing on Hercules’ way of action in the play, in this paper the three stages of psychological development through which the hero passes, trying to define and conquer virtue, will be argued. The hero’s soul development constitutes an arduous process of transformation of his psyche, ethical values and philosophical vision.
At the beginning of the play, Hercules is portrayed as the archetypical hero who utilizes his physical strength and offers his divine status in the service of humankind. The secondary characters of this play -until the hero’s first entrance- praise him as an agent of justice and omnipotence, as he has even exceeded the limits of Nature. The transformation process begins, as the hero, based on the opinions of others, displays an unrealistic opinion of himself.
After his return from the Underworld, a labor that catalyzes the laws of Nature in the most impressive way, Hercules is converted to a vengeful, violent, self-centered, arrogant and mentally disturbed character and does not hesitated to claim his immortality, but also to perform a heinous crime. He cannot manage the worship of people and the magnitude of his fame, and loses his mental balance. His final madness
is not a divine punishment because he dared to overcome the physical limits or because the hubris he commits, while rivaling the gods; his furor is presented by Seneca as a result of the incorrect view that Hercules formed for virtue as a physical strength and not as the power to deal with emotions and the enforcement of passions.
In other words, it will be argued that Hercules is destroyed by his own inability to control his emotions, and only at the end of the play he realizes his madness and his guilt. For the last time he is transformed from an exemplum of external strength to an exemplum of internal strength of self-cognition, wisdom and stoic emotional restraint and combination of Reason and Passion in the human soul.
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Conference Presentations by Valasia Partaliou
Focusing on Hercules’ way of action in the play, in this paper the three stages of psychological development through which the hero passes, trying to define and conquer virtue, will be argued. The hero’s soul development constitutes an arduous process of transformation of his psyche, ethical values and philosophical vision.
At the beginning of the play, Hercules is portrayed as the archetypical hero who utilizes his physical strength and offers his divine status in the service of humankind. The secondary characters of this play -until the hero’s first entrance- praise him as an agent of justice and omnipotence, as he has even exceeded the limits of Nature. The transformation process begins, as the hero, based on the opinions of others, displays an unrealistic opinion of himself.
After his return from the Underworld, a labor that catalyzes the laws of Nature in the most impressive way, Hercules is converted to a vengeful, violent, self-centered, arrogant and mentally disturbed character and does not hesitated to claim his immortality, but also to perform a heinous crime. He cannot manage the worship of people and the magnitude of his fame, and loses his mental balance. His final madness
is not a divine punishment because he dared to overcome the physical limits or because the hubris he commits, while rivaling the gods; his furor is presented by Seneca as a result of the incorrect view that Hercules formed for virtue as a physical strength and not as the power to deal with emotions and the enforcement of passions.
In other words, it will be argued that Hercules is destroyed by his own inability to control his emotions, and only at the end of the play he realizes his madness and his guilt. For the last time he is transformed from an exemplum of external strength to an exemplum of internal strength of self-cognition, wisdom and stoic emotional restraint and combination of Reason and Passion in the human soul.
Focusing on Hercules’ way of action in the play, in this paper the three stages of psychological development through which the hero passes, trying to define and conquer virtue, will be argued. The hero’s soul development constitutes an arduous process of transformation of his psyche, ethical values and philosophical vision.
At the beginning of the play, Hercules is portrayed as the archetypical hero who utilizes his physical strength and offers his divine status in the service of humankind. The secondary characters of this play -until the hero’s first entrance- praise him as an agent of justice and omnipotence, as he has even exceeded the limits of Nature. The transformation process begins, as the hero, based on the opinions of others, displays an unrealistic opinion of himself.
After his return from the Underworld, a labor that catalyzes the laws of Nature in the most impressive way, Hercules is converted to a vengeful, violent, self-centered, arrogant and mentally disturbed character and does not hesitated to claim his immortality, but also to perform a heinous crime. He cannot manage the worship of people and the magnitude of his fame, and loses his mental balance. His final madness
is not a divine punishment because he dared to overcome the physical limits or because the hubris he commits, while rivaling the gods; his furor is presented by Seneca as a result of the incorrect view that Hercules formed for virtue as a physical strength and not as the power to deal with emotions and the enforcement of passions.
In other words, it will be argued that Hercules is destroyed by his own inability to control his emotions, and only at the end of the play he realizes his madness and his guilt. For the last time he is transformed from an exemplum of external strength to an exemplum of internal strength of self-cognition, wisdom and stoic emotional restraint and combination of Reason and Passion in the human soul.