The Epic Hero

About this book

Selected by Choice Magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title From Odysseus to Aeneas from Beowulf to King Arthur from the Mahbhrata to the Ossetian "Nart" tales epic heroes and their stories have symbolized the power of the human imagination. Drawing on diverse disciplines including classics anthropology psychology and literary studies this product of twenty years scholarship provides a detailed typology of the hero in Western myth: birth parentage familial ties sexuality character deeds death and afterlife. Dean A. Miller examines the place of the hero in the physical world (wilderness castle prison cell) and in society (among monarchs fools shamans rivals and gods). He looks at the hero in battle and quest; at his political status; and at his relationship to established religion. The book spans Western epic traditions including Greek Roman Nordic and Celtic as well as the Indian and Persian legacies. A large section of the book also examines the figures who modify or accompany the hero: partners helpers (animals and sometimes monsters) foes foils and even antitypes. The Epic Hero provides a comprehensive and provocative guide to epic heroes and to the richly imaginative tales they inhabit.