The ancient Greeks idealized and venerated their heroes, but their concept of a hero differs rather significantly from ours. The epic poem, The Iliad, is often said to depict the importance cultural values had on ancient Greek society , of which heroism plays a major role. To be a hero in ancient Greece, one was said to have hêrôs , a Greek adjective applied to someone who lived and died in pursuit of honor and glory. The notions of honor and glory, or timê and kleos as they were called by the Greeks, were fundamental pillars in defining what constitutes heroism . Given that the setting of The Iliad is during one of the greatest mythic wars in Greek antiquity, it follows that numerous figures would arise, such as Achilles, Diomedes and Hector, having pursued and attained immortality by way of aspiring to uphold the ideals of honor and glory.
In Greek epics, like The Iliad, the hero functions as a literary character, but also as an idealized archetype. Heroes act as figures that transcend the boundaries between mortal men and deathless gods, as they must die a mortal death, but live on in immortality through song and cultic worship . The ancient Greeks sought this immortality, or kleos (κλέος), through excellence and virtue, areté (ἀρετή), and timê (тιμή), which is most easily achieved through victory in battle, or aristeia (αριστεια). The grand moments of an epic earn a hero kudos (κῦδος), which bears with it connotations of fame or renown as a direct result of an action or achievement, which is critical in classifying heroism. A certain glory, too, is derived from one’s homecoming, or nostos (νόστος). There are, of course, certain qualities that heroes might possess, such as might, bi (βία), or cunning, mêtis (Μῆτις), but a hero’s actions themselves are what define him. The highlight of a hero’s path is to die a perfect death, that is, an honorable death in battle. Only after death can a hero be immortalized in song .
In defining heroism in the...