Etrusco-Italic Herclé: a study in the formation of image, cult, and regional identity

Martinez, Victor M.

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/14754 Copy

Description

Title

Etrusco-Italic Herclé: a study in the formation of image, cult, and regional identity

Author(s)

Martinez, Victor M.

Issue Date

2010-01-06T17:49:23Z

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Hostetter, Eric R.

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Hostetter, Eric R.

Committee Member(s)

• Dengate, James
• Wisseman, Sarah U.
• Wood, Jeryldene M.

Department of Study

Art & Design

Discipline

Art History

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Etruscan
• Herakles
• Hercle
• Iconography
• Richard White
• Mary Helms

Abstract

My dissertation traces the Italic roots for the iconographies and roles of Herakles in central and northern Italy (i.e., Etrusco-Italic Herclé) prior to Roman hegemony (ca. 1000-300 BCE). The thesis begins with the premise that this hero-god, commonly known as Herclé, after his Greek namesake, may have had an indigenous ancestry in central and northern Italy. I argue that, although one cannot trace a direct teleological evolution for Herclé 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 Herclé. In shaping my theorization of the indigenous, Italic roots of Herclé, 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.

Graduation Semester

2009-12

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/14754

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2009 Victor M Martinez

Owning Collections