Potent kings and antisocial heroes

Lion symbolism and elite masculinity in ancient Mesopotamia and Greece

Bibliographic Data

ID22105262
AuthorsMicheál Geoghegan (Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume9
Issue1
Pages1-18
Publication date2021-06-26
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Ancient History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2324-8106 • E-ISSN: 2324-8114
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/jah-2020-0021
OpenAlexW3171224276
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited22

In the great kingdoms of ancient Mesopotamia, the king’s power was often evoked by means of lion symbolism. This has led scholars to conclude that lion motifs, and especially that of the lion-slaying hero, in early Greek art and literature were cultural borrowings from the more populous and urbanised civilisations to the east. Yet it is also notable that the Greek tradition, at least from the time of the Homeric poems, tended to problematise the ethics of the leonine man. This article explores the function of lion imagery in narratives of elite masculinity in western Asia and early Greece respectively. It will argue that Greek myth and epic reflect on and problematise any potential equation between lions and kingly prestige, power and masculinity, instead drawing attention to the savagery and social isolation of the lion-like man-of-power, and his difficulty in conforming to the expectations of civilised society

Ancient Greece · Ancient Greek · Ancient history · Art · Elite · HERO · Literature · Masculinity · Mesopotamia · Mythology · Narrative · Poetry · Prestige · Sociology · Ancient Near East History · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classics · Gender Studies · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · Law · Philosophy

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