Aristeia describes a hero's moment of greatest glory, the moment when a hero kills the most people. It is a Greek word and comes from aristos which means "the best". It is used many times in Homer's epic poem. the Iliad. Several heroes in the Illiad had moments of aristeia. These include Agamemnon, Diomedes, and Hector.[1]
In Athens, Sparta, and other city-states of Ancient Greece, the aristeia was a prize awarded to soldiers who had been very brave in battle.[2]
Lucan, a Roman poet who lived from 39 to 65 AD, wrote about moments of aristeia in his epic poem called Bellum Civile. His poem was about the war between Julius Caesar and Pompey. Virgil also used aristeia in his epic poem, the Aeneid.[3][4]
- ↑ Louden, Bruce (2006). The Iliad: Structure, Myth, and Meaning, pp. 80-89; 171. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 080188280X
- ↑ Hamel, Debra (1998). Athenian Generals: Military Authority in the Classical Period. pp. 64-69. Brill ISBN 9004109005
- ↑ Gorman, Vanessa B. (2001). "Lucan's Epic Aristeia and the Hero of the Bellum Civile", The Classical Journal, Vol. 96, No. 3, pp. 263-290. Retrieved 15 October 2018 (subscription required).
- ↑ Clausen, Wendell V. (2012). Virgil's Aeneid: Decorum, Allusion, and Ideology, pp. 201-202. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 3110963701