Geras
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In Greek mythology, Geras (Template:Langx) is the god of old age. He was typically depicted as a tiny, shriveled old man. Gēras's opposite was Hebe, the goddess of youth. In Latin, he is referred to as Senectus.[1] He is known primarily from vase depictions that show him with the hero Heracles; the mythic story that inspired these depictions has been lost. Otherwise, Geras has a very limited role in both religion and mythology.
Etymology
The Greek word γῆρας (gĕras) means "old age" or in some other literature "dead skin" or "slough of a snake"; this word is the root of English words such as "geriatric" and "progeria".[2]
Mythology
According to Hesiod, Geras is one of the many sons and daughters that the night goddess Nyx produced on her own parthenogenetically.[3] However, later authors Hyginus and Cicero both add Erebus, Nyx's consort, as the father.[4][5]
In the myth of Tithonus, the mortal prince received immortality, but not agelessness, from the gods so when old age came to him he kept aging and shrinking but never dying. In the end his divine lover Eos turned Tithonus into a cicada.[6] In several ancient Greek vases Geras is depicted fighting Heracles, although no relevant written myth survives. Geras is presented as an old, wrinkled bald man begging for mercy.[7]
Philostratus claimed that the people of Gadeira set up altars to Geras and Thanatos.[8]
Function
Geras as embodied in humans represented a virtue: the more gēras a man acquired, the more kleos (fame) and arete (excellence and courage) he was considered to have. In ancient Greek literature, the related word géras (γέρας) can also carry the meaning of influence, authority or power; especially that derived from fame, good looks and strength claimed through success in battle or contest. Such uses of this meaning can be found in Homer's Odyssey, throughout which there is an evident concern from the various kings about the géras they will pass to their sons through their names.[9] The concern is significant because kings at this time (such as Odysseus) are believed to have ruled by common assent in recognition of their powerful influence, rather than hereditarily.[10][11]
Geras could refer to the treasure that was awarded during battles in Ancient Greece. After a battle, the victorious power would collect the captured gold, treasure, and other valuable artefacts. It would then be divided between the victors according to their timê or honour; the greater the honour, the greater the level of Geras that would be gained.
In Homer's Iliad, Agamemnon and Achilles fall out over a dispute of the return Chryses' daughter and taking Briseis in exchange (Book 1); Achilles sees Agamemnon taking his Gera as an affront to his pride and honour. Similarly, in many Hellenic cultures, it is customary to take the armour of a defeated enemy, a form of Gera, such as in Book 16 with Hector and Patroclus fighting over the body of Cebriones, son of Priam - King of Troy.
See also
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- Cumaean Sibyl
- Geras, Mortal Kombat character
- Elli, Norse personification of old age
- Gerascophobia
Notes
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- ↑ Brill's New Pauly, s.v. Geras.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Hesiod, Theogony 225
- ↑ Hyginus, Fabulae Preface
- ↑ Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3.17
- ↑ Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 218 ff; Scholia on the Odyssey 5.1 Template:Webarchive
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana 5.4
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ For an example of this, see Homer, The Odyssey, 24.33-34
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References
- Brill’s New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. Antiquity, Volume 5, Equ-Has, editors: Hubert Cancik, Helmuth Schneider, Brill, 2004. Template:ISBN. Online version at Brill.
- Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
- Hesiod, Theogony from The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, Nature of the Gods from the Treatises of M.T. Cicero translated by Charles Duke Yonge (1812-1891), Bohn edition of 1878. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, De Natura Deorum. O. Plasberg. Leipzig. Teubner. 1917. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Further reading
- Preisshofen, Felix, Untersuchungen zur Darstellung des Greisenalters in der frühgriechischen Dichtung, Franz Steiner, 1977. Template:ISBN.