Etrusco-Italic Hercle: A Study in the Formation of Image, Cult, and Regional Identity

"My dissertation traces the Italic roots for the iconographies and roles of Herakles in central and northern Italy (i.e., Etrusco-Italic Hercle) prior to Roman hegemony (ca. 1000--300 BCE). The thesis begins with the premise that this hero-god, commonly known as Hercle, after his Greek namesake, may have had an indigenous ancestry on the Italic peninsula. I argue that, although one cannot trace a direct teleological evolution for Hercle that goes back to the beginning of anthropomorphization, earlier and more anonymous Italic hero-figures embody indigenous and deeply rooted cultural meanings that are evident in subsequent representations of Hercle. In shaping my theorization of the indigenous, Italic roots of Hercle, I draw especially on the work of Richard White and Mary Helms. White's concept of the ""middle ground,"" which refers to both a geographic location (literally a space of interaction) and a cultural stance (the overlap or place between two differing cultures) is a compelling lens through which to understand the interaction between Greeks and Italic populations. Helms outlines a theory of how distance affects the formation of ideology among ruling elites, such that spatial and temporal distances become linked and equivalent on a cosmological scale. In applying these ideas to the study of objects, I used quantitative elements such as iconography and materiality to get at underlying socio-cultural structure and meaning at both local and regional levels."

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Art History

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Martinez, Victor Manuel

Contributors dc:contributor

• Eric Hostetter

• Classical Studies

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3406781

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/87382