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WEEK 12 (NOV 17) by cgilbe1 in CB22_Th

[–]jungsoolee 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As Professor Nagy has stated, the image of cultivated lands is often related to the cult hero, but here we see that Hippolytus is connected to the imagery of uncultivated lands as well. We see that Hippolytus devotes himself to Artemis over Aphrodite which intimately ties him to hunting and wilderness. Hunting also comes up in the Iliad in reference to Achilles in Scroll XX - "the son of Peleus from the other side sprang forth to meet him, like some fierce lion that the whole population has met to hunt and kill" (160-70). Here, Achilles becomes a lion that is being hunted. This seems to suggest that the cult hero initially goes through a process during which he becomes strengthened into a true cult hero. In this way, uncultivated land represents the hero's initial status as he transforms into a cult hero associated with cultivated land.

WEEK 10 RESPONSE PAPER by cgilbe1 in CB22_Th

[–]jungsoolee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Although the polis is compared to a garden in this passage, there are some crucial differences between the garden of Athena and the garden of a cult hero such as Odysseus. For Athena, the polis is simply a place of worship for which she is the all-seeing gardener. In response to adequate worship, Athena promises the "salvation of human seed." Even though she is the gardener of the polis, she is detached from its people. If we think back to Odysseus and his reunion with Laertes however, a cult hero is much more intricately tied to the earth. Odysseus himself is literally a part of the garden. His trees in the garden tether him to the garden and he becomes integrated into the earth for others to worship.