Social memory and its literary forms in Greek epic and tragedy

• Authors: Schade Gerson
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Several Homeric departure-scenes, depicting a son leaving his father, contain as their central theme the idea of becoming such a hero as one’s father was. In light of the new concept ‘social memory’ it is no wonder that the central message of the heroic code, ‘always try to excel’, is part of the conversation during the departurescenes, for the simple reason that this phrase and those connected with it define the social memory of the heroic society, the ‘heroic code’. Reminiscences of one’s father and his words mean much to heroes, structure their lives, provide a frame, and help them to cope with the current situation.

Keywords

EN

Social memory; heroic code; departure-scene; ‘always try to excel’

• Publisher: Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
• Journal: Symbolae Philologorum Posnaniensium Graecae et Latinae
• Year: 2012
• Volume: 22
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 5-23

Dates

published

2012-06-30

Contributors

author

Schade Gerson

• Institut für Griechische und Lateinische Philologie Freie Universität Berlin, Habelschwerdter Allee 45 Raum JK 31-3-02, 14195 Berlin Germany