Abstract
The inevitability of death and the fragility while facing the imponderables of nature and the conflicts of coexistence have marked human life from its origins, turning it into a constant crisis and thwarting the persistent yearning for happiness. That is why the struggle to transcend the horizons of mortal limitations and attain the eternal bliss of the gods, or at least a glorious memory, constitutes an essential theme of the Homeric Poems, the first literary documents of the West. Their narrative deals with the fundamental dilemma of heroes like Achilles or Odysseus: the need to overcome mortality, in the memory of the living, through aristeia, versus the risk of exceeding, through hybris, the limits imposed on their own share of happiness. The symbolic spectre of fratricidal wars, already present in archaic poetry, is intensified by Greek tragedy, and later by Roman epics, because of the terrible experiences of the Peloponnesian War and the bella ciuilia at the end of the Roman Republic. After the glorious and patriotic spolia opima of the historic Marcellus, disconcerting shadows are projected by Virgil on the fictional hero Aeneas, and a total subversion of the concept of aristeia dominates Lucan’s epic poem on the civil war between Caesar and Pompey: the bellica uirtus that immortalises the name of the warrior becomes a scelus nefandum, the soldiers are mere instruments and anonymous targets for slaughter, and the few named embody the supreme hybris of the parricides. Other poets and philosophers tried to find a positive balance, suggesting aurea mediocritas and the control of emotions, thus enriching the humanistic heritage of the ancient world.
This study has been carried out under the research project UIDB/00683/2020 (Centre for Philosophical and Humanistic Studies), funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology. This chapter follows the abbreviation system for ancient texts of the Oxford Classical Dictionary.
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Notes
- 1.
For example, golden cups similar to the prodigious cup of Nestor, described in Il. 11, 632 sqq.; or the helmets decorated with boar tusks, like the one given by Meriones to Odysseus in Il. 10, 260–65.
- 2.
Examples of that anachronic mixture are the funeral rites (burial or cremation coexist) and the mention of iron, notably in metaphors and similes (Fowler, 2004).
- 3.
About the recent theories concerning its historicity, vd. Zangger (2016). Some of those theses have been supported by recent archaeological works.
- 4.
Homeric Poetry recalls how the Blissful Immortals also experience mourning with great emotional turmoil (e.g. Zeus, rebelling against the death of Sarpedon, in Il. 16; and Thetis against that of Achilles, in Il.1). However, the mythical context always reinforces the notion that this pain comes from having human children, whom they cannot rescue from death.
- 5.
In Homer, derived forms are also documented (μακάριος, μακαρίτης and the denominal verb μακαρίζω). For more information, vd. Chantraine, 1984 (s.v).
- 6.
Cfr. Od. 5, 306; Od. 11, 561–69, 805. The plural will come to be applied later (Hesiod, Plato) to the dead in the Island of the Blessed, a usage that continues in Modern Greek (dead, blessed, happy). Particularly important, in the moralising worldview of the Odyssey, is the passage (Od. 11, 483) in which Odysseus assures Achilles in Hell that he continues to suffer uninterrupted misfortunes, and the happiest of men will always be Achilles, whom they continue to pay the highest honours.
- 7.
Or when they avoid interrupting the imperturbable divine well-being (e.g. Il. 5, 819; Il. 6, 141.); in rare occurrences (9 x), it is the “mundane” disturbance of a god—vilified as a mortal—that justifies the contrastive reference to his fortunate peers (e.g. Il. 1, 406 and 599; Od. 8, 306 and 326).
- 8.
Cfr. Od. 15, 538; Od. 17, 165; Od. 19, 311.
- 9.
In greeting formulas, when someone wishes another a superlative moment of satisfaction (21x), but also connoting the sudden euphoric impulse at the achievement of a military triumph (10x), or the emotion of a gesture of empathy (26x), or by confirming the viability of a project (25x).
- 10.
With the late variants εὐτυχία e ἀτυχία, linked to the verb τυγχάνω (“to happen”, “to happen by chance”, “to hit a target”), which occurs 39x.
- 11.
Manifestations of τύχη are the blows of the heroes against their opponents, or all the sudden changes of circumstances that they would like to experience (e.g. Od. 15, 158).
- 12.
In Il. 3, 182, attributed by Priam to Agamemnon, identified proudly commanding the impressive enemy armies on the plain, in the extended full-line formula ὦ μάκαρ Ἀτρεΐδη μοιρηγενὲς ὀλβιόδαιμον
- 13.
Linked to κλέω, “glorify”, κλύω, “listen”, κλυτός, “famous”, “who is heard about”.
- 14.
E.g., Od. 7148; Od. 17, 420; Od. 18, 138; Od. 19, 76.
- 15.
It is evoked by Glaucos before his enemy Diomedes. A similar image will be used by Apollo, when he tells Poseidon that he would never fight a god because of mortals, so fragile and insignificant as they are (Il. 21, 463–66) (Kirk, 1985–1993).
- 16.
The narrative of Agamemnon’s foul death, promoted by his adulterous wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus, and the consequent revenge of his son Orestes—recurs in the Odyssey as an obsessive theme. The poet takes pleasure in reformulating it, underlining, as a fundamental theme of the Odyssey, an explicit confrontation between the two family groups, based on the evident parallels between the roles of Agamemnon/Odysseus, Clytemnestra/Penelope, Aegisthus/the suitors, and Orestes/Telemachus (Heubeck & West, 1981–1986).
- 17.
This clarifies the nature of the opposition that epic tradition has recognised over the centuries, between the κλέος of Odysseus (the best in μῆτις, especially in the Odyssey) and the τιμή of Achilles: both dispute the title of ἄριστος Ἀχαιῶν, Achilles because he fights like no other, Odysseus because he, through his astuteness and constancy of spirit, managed to overcome the resistance of Troy and that of fate itself.
- 18.
The Nekyia would later become a literary topos of great fortune, which would guarantee an abundant harvest in European Literature through many poetic allegories, starting with Virgil’s Aeneis.
- 19.
Compare with similar moments in the Iliad (Il. 17, 446–447, and particularly, Il. 24, 534–42), much more pessimistic and consistent with the deterministic ethics of the poem.
- 20.
Horace (1951) alludes to the conquest of Greece (first half of the second century BC), which marked the arrival of works of art and many enslaved and free Greeks into the Roman capital, including philosophers.
- 21.
There was a popular prejudice against the Greeks and those who sympathised with Greek culture, nicknamed Graeculi, still patent in the scorn towards the Emperor Hadrian. Cicero himself feigned ignorance and contempt when it suited his purposes, like in the process against Verres (vd. II, 4, 24.57). Philosophy generated deep suspicions, like the anecdote about the impact of Carneades’ contradictory speeches on Cato the Elder (155 BC) suggests. Fearing that the influence of philosophers on Roman youth could call the traditional values into question, he convinced the Senate to expel the philosophers from the city.
- 22.
Besides uirtus, whose concept is akin to Greek arete, other virtues often vary, but some stand out, namely: pietas, fides, concordia, disciplina, prudentia, ratio, clementia; more concerned with the individual are pudicitia, dignitas, grauitas, frugalitas (Lind, 1972).
- 23.
Romans from noble background used to keep wax masks—imagines—of their illustrious ancestors in their atria. The masks were exhibited in funerals and the great deeds were remembered in eulogies, thus kee** the memory of the individual and the family in people’s minds (Mazzeri, 2014).
- 24.
Emperor Augustus’ request for applause on his deathbed is illustrative of this concept, as reported by Suetonius (Aug. 99, 1).
- 25.
In these treaties Cicero deals with human condition and emotions, whether virtue alone is sufficient for a happy life, and philosophical perspectives on the divine.
- 26.
The Consolatio is a literary-philosophical-therapeutic genre that emerged in the Hellenistic period, through the academic philosopher Crantor (third century BC), dedicated to hel** with personal trials (Manning, 1981, p. 12). The Consolatio could be considered a useful output for the community, which Cicero tried, as later Seneca would. Some rhetorical resources from the Consolatio canon also have therapeutic value, such as the laudatio of the deceased and the exempla of personalities with influence over the recipient.
- 27.
Seneca addressed criticism around his political activity signalling the precepts of Stoicism (Tranq. 10,1).
- 28.
His treaty On duties, in which he tries to bring Stoic doctrine closer to concrete life, and in the process approaches other schools of thought, had a deep influence, namely on Cicero’s own work on the subject.
- 29.
Sene also took advantage of this generalisation (Evenepoel, 2014).
- 30.
In the turbulent first-century BC, many “dynasts” professed interest in Epicureanism, notably Julius Caesar and one of his murderers, Gaius Cassius Longinus, but they often selected only parts of the philosophical system and mixed it with other schools of thought (Bourne, 1977).
- 31.
Seneca the Younger, though frugal in his personal habits, was a well-known collector of luxury items, like citrus wood tables with ivory legs, which the less wealthy Cicero also treasured (Dion Cass. 61, 10).
- 32.
Martial and Petronius, among others, depict the consequences of the new imperial regime, particularly the rise of millionaires who, like the latter’s Trimalchio, were freed slaves and became patrons who didn’t protect their clients the way traditional families used to. The end of the elections for major magistracies turned the poorer citizens into irrelevant entities or lackeys of the rich.
- 33.
The adjective beatus comes from the participle of the verb beare, to make happy. Analysing the occurrences, in Fin.: felix 2, felicitas 2, feliciter 1; beatus in its various forms: 142; beatius and beatius: 31. The meaning of felix is exemplified by the reference to Polycrates of Samos—famous for his good luck, recorded in the episode of the ring found in the belly of a fish, but also for numerous virtues and a cruel end—to whom the two “felix” are applied (5, 30, 92). Note the repeated use of beata vita, which will have a counterpart in the title of one of Seneca’s works (De uita beata, c. 58 AD). In the Tusculanae, the same tendency is verified: felicitas is used only once; beatus in its various forms: 144; and beate 27. In De natura deorum, felix 2 occurrences, feliciter 1; beatus in its various forms: 51; beate 1, beatius 1; and beatitudo and beatitas 1 occurrence each.
- 34.
The fundamental meaning of felicitas is “good luck” and “fertility”, meanings also present in the adjective felix. Felicitas, also associated with the homonymous goddess, was frequently used, like the adjective, in toponyms, such as Felicitas Iulia, part of the Roman name of Lisbon; felix appears in Arabia Felix (Eudaimon Arabia in Greek) or as a cognomen, e.g. the dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix. The connection to good luck relates its concept to fortune—luck and destiny—also personified in a goddess, whose protection was seen as an essential quality. Therefore, Sulla gave his children the names of Faustus and Fausta, related to the verb fauere—“to favour”; in the past participle, “to be favoured by luck or fate”.
- 35.
The Princeps sought to restore the mos maiorum and even religious practices that had long fallen into disuse.
- 36.
Felix has 21 occurrences, alternating the meaning of happiness and good luck; fortuna 66, and fortunatus 5, and the adverb forte (“by chance”, “by accident”) 38.
- 37.
This collocation occurs 19 times.
- 38.
Aeneas is outraged by Turnus’s use of the spoils of the much-mourned youth Pallas (saeui monimenta doloris, Aen. 12, 945), whom the Rutulian had killed in devious circumstances.
- 39.
The most famous and rare example of this ultimate consecration of a Roman general was the single combat in which Marcus Claudius Marcellus defeated the Gallic King Viridomarus (222 BC), at Clastidium (Flower, 2000).
- 40.
Some critics think that Lucan would have presented Cato’s suicide if he had had the opportunity of finishing his poem (Gorman, 2001).
- 41.
This is how the as extraordinary as gory aristeia by Marcus Cassius Scaeva, the battle-hardened Caesarian centurion who managed to defend his position alone in the battle of Dyrrhachium (Luc. 6140–262), seems as nefarious as he is fascinating. Scaeva is an anti-hero, because he is prone to evil and doesn’t understand that there is no uirtus in such a war (Luc. 147–148) (Leigh, 2015: pp. 239 sqq).
- 42.
Beatus is used 4 times, and even felix 43 (with different meanings), with fortuna, with and without capital letters, the dominant word (147). There is also the frequent use of faustus and fatum, as well as infaustus and infelix, among others, which make up the general pessimism of the poem. The two uses of beatus related to the theme of the poem refer to libertas (Luc. 4, 807–809) and to the honouring of Pompey’s bones (Luc. 8, 843).
- 43.
Horace fought in the republican army defeated by the joint forces of Mark Antony and young Octavian at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC but didn’t show military prowess (Od. 2.7.10).
- 44.
Stoicism, mixed with the mos maiorum, is also a major contributor, like the famous ode 1.22 (“Integer uitae”) demonstrates (McCormick, 1973).
- 45.
Although he tried, Martial was never offered an important position like Horace.
- 46.
Even for the hosts, the cena was a symbolic enactment of social life, trapped by games of appearances, strategies for ascension and accompanied by more or less evident bullying and potential betrayal.
- 47.
Martial dedicates several epigrams to that pitiful character, e.g. 2, 11, 14, and 27.
- 48.
His apparent condescendence with Agrippina and Nero’s crimes seems shocking, as well as his immense wealth and the rancour he seems to hold against deceased enemies, whom he attacks in his works.
- 49.
For example, his De uita beata was intended for his older brother Novatus or Gallio, as well as De Ira, in this case because he “pressed” him “to prescribe a way of soothing anger” (De ira 1,1,1)
- 50.
R. Kaster in Seneca, 2010.
- 51.
Pleasure and pain are linked with the present; desire and fear with the future.
- 52.
Seneca does not impose the most severe maxims on Marcia (certainly an allusion to apatheia) but admits the initial tears (certainly an allusion to metriopatheia). He also suggests the possibility of an afterlife, referring to the undisturbed happiness of the young Metilius with his famous grandfather, the historian Cremutius Cordus.
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Ferreira Lopes, M.J., Pinto, A.P. (2024). The Critical Limits of Human Condition Between Hybris and Aristeia. In: Magalhães, L., Ferreira Lopes, M.J., Nobre, B., Onofre Pinto, J.C. (eds) Humanistic Perspectives in Happiness Research. Happiness Studies Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38600-8_1
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