ESSAYS IN HONOR OF ABRAHAM J. MALHERBE. Greeks, Romans, and Christians Edited by David L. Balch Everett Ferguson Wayne A. Meeks FORTRESS PRESS MINNEAPOLISDAVID E. AUNE il HERACLES AND CHRIST Heracles Imagery in the Christology of Early Christianity By the middle of the second century A.D., Justin Martyr recognized the existence of formal parallels between the career of Jesus and a motley assort- ment of Greek gods and heroes, including Heracles: “In saying that the Word, who is the first offspring of God, was born for us without sexual union, as Jesus Christ our Teacher, and that he was crucified and died and after rising again ascended into heaven we introduce nothing new beyond [what you say of] those whom you call sons of Zeus” (1 Apol. 21.1; trans. Hardy). The parallels include virginal conception, death, resurrection, and ascension. Elsewhere Justin, apparently threatened by such parallels, defends the uniqueness of Christ by arguing that the similarities between Heracles and Christ were the result of imitation: “And when they tell that Herakles was strong and travelled over all the world, and was begotten by Zeus of Alemene, and ascended to heaven when he died [anoBavévta eig odpavoy aveAnAv@évar], do I not understand that the Scripture which speaks of Christ, ‘strong like a giant to run his race,’ has been in like manner imitated [peypfjo8a1]?” (Dial. 69.3). Later, Celsus lists major figures in mythology whom the Greeks thought were originally mortals and eventually became immortals or gods (the Dioscuri, Heracles, Asclepius, and Dionysus), but whose divinity was rejected by Chris- tians (Origen C. Cels. 3.22); Origen, using the traditional strategies of Chris- tian apologists, attempts to refute the divinity of each (3.42) uy This evidence indicates that during the second and third centuries A.D., Christians and pagans alike saw Heracles and Christ as religious rivals. In this chapter I will explore some of the reasons for the similarities that early Chris- tians perceived between Heracles and Christ. Did the Greeks transform Heracles in conformity with traditions about Christ? That is impossible, if only because the basic features of the Heracles legend were fixed long before 1. The argumentative strategy of the Greek apologists consists primarily of attempts to point out the immoral behavior of divinized heroes and gods, thereby discrediting them; cf. Clement of ‘Alex, Protrepticus 2.22-23, 26-28, 30; Athenagoras Legatio 29. On Tertullian, see Gordon J Laing, “Tertullian and the Pagan Cults,” TAPA 44 (1913) xav—wxvii4 ESSAYS IN HONOR OF ABRAHAM J. MALHERBE the first century A.D.2 Two other possibilities remain. Either the similarities between Heracles and Christ are phenomenological parallels that cannot be explained by theories of literary dependence and/or Christians have conceptu- alized the role of Jesus in light of aspects of the Heracles myth—that is, Christ is, at least to some extent, an imitation of Heracles. ASPECTS OF THE HERACLES LEGEND Heracles was the single most popular hero in Greek and Roman antiquity. This popularity is reflected in the favorite ancient expletive “O Heracles!”,° in the many folktales and myths in which he functions as the protagonist, in the many local cults in which he was honored (usually as a hero, occasionally as a god), in literary adaptations (primarily in comedies and satyr plays), and in artistic representations (which often reveal more than literary sources).> Such artistic illustrations of his exploits go back to the eighth century B.C., and Hera- cles himself goes back at least to the Mycenaean period, if not earlier.° There were, in fact, Heracles-like figures in the ancient Near East, known primarily from iconographic sources.” The Old Testament figure of Samson clearly belongs to this Levantine Heracles tradition.> By the fourth century A.D., early Christians connected Samson with Heracles (Augustine Civ. Dei 18.19).° 2. The emperor Julian (late fourth century a.p.) embellished the legend of Heracles in the light of Gospel traditions about Jesus; cf. Marcel Simon, Le Christianisme antique et son contexte reli- gieux: Scripta Varia (WUNT 23; Tiibingen: J.C. B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1981) 1. 258. Julian mentions the journey of Heracles over the sea in the golden cup of the sun and says, “I believe by the gods, that it was not a cup but I am convinced that he traveled over the sea as upon dry land. For what was impossible to Herakles?” (Julian Or. 7.219D; ef. Mark 6:48 par: ). 3. Aclius Aristides (Or. 40.1) refers to this exclamation as “the daily praise [of Heracles} by all men.” Cf. Sophocles Philoctetes 174; Aelius Aristides Or. 40.14; Libanius 18.186. 4.G. Karl Galinsky, The Herakles Theme: The Adaptations of the Hero in Literature from Homer to the Twentieth Century (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1972). 5. Frank Brommer, Vasenlisten zur griechischen Heldensage (3. Aufl.; Marburg: Elmert, 1973); idem, Denkmalerlisten zur griechischen Heldensage I (Marburg: Elmert, 1972); Jane Henle, Greek Myths: A Vase Painter's Notebook (Bloomington; Indiana University Press, 1973) 57-74, with extensive bibliographies on 204-8; John Boardman, Athenian Black Figure Vases (New York: Oxford University Press, 1974) 221-25, 6. Martin P. Nilsson, The Mycenean Origin of Greek Mythology (Berkeley: University of Cali- fornia Press, 1932) 187-220. 7. Walter Burkert, Structure and History in Greek Mythology and Ritual (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979) 80-83. : 8. Othniel Margalith has written a series of articles in which he attempts to demonstrate the ultimate dependency of many stories connected with Samson to Heracles traditions from Minoan-Mycenaean civilization: “Samson's Riddle and Samson's Magic Locks,” VT 36 (1986) 225-34; idem, “More Samson Legends,” VI 36 (1986) 397-405; idem, “The Legends of Samson/Heracles,” VT 37 (1987) 63-70. 9, Samson is depicted in the guise of Heracles in the frescoes of the Via Latina catacomb: cf. Simon, “Remarques sur la Catacombe de la Via Latina,” Le Christianisme antique et son contexte religieux (Lief. 108/9; Stuttgart: Anton Hiersemann, 1988) 286-96; cf. Abraham J. Malherbe, “Herakles,” RAC 581-83.DAVID E. AUNE 5 Further, Heracles was traditionally associated with the Tyrian god Melkart, the Baal of the Old Testament.'° Yet Heracles differed decisively from other Greek heroes. The worship of most Greek heroes centered at their tombs, where their physical remains were thought buried. Heracles, however, had no tomb. There are several reasons for this unique state of affairs. Martin Nilsson argues that since Heracles ori- ginated in folklore and was never an actual historical individual, it is not surprising that he was not localized in the same way that other heroes were.!! According to a widespread ancient view, his mortal part was consumed on the pyre on Mount Oeta, whereas his immortal part was carried off to heaven (Seneca Hercules Oetaeus 1966-69), so no physical remains were left for burial (Diodorus 4.38.5). Friedrich Pfister correctly suggests that such Entriickungslegende (ascension legends) were a mythological way of rational- izing cultic offerings of both Olympian and chthonic types to a single deity.” In fact, Heracles received sacrifices in many different places, sometimes as a hero, but sometimes also as a god.!? Herodotus, who thought that there were originally two Heracleses, one an ancient Egyptian god and the other the son of Alemene, justified his view by appealing to two ways in which Heracles was worshiped: “And further: those Greeks, I think, are most in the right, who have established and practise two worships of Heracles, sacrificing to one Heracles as to an immortal, and calling him the Olympian, but to the other bringing offerings as to a dead hero” (2.44; trans. Godley in LCL). The implications of these two apparently contradictory types of sacrifice are reconciled in an interpolation in Homer's Odyssey (11.6024), where the eiShov (phantom) of Heracles is said to be in Hades, whereas the hero him- self reportedly lives with the immortal gods on Olympus. Pindar, who regarded Heracles as the embodiment of heroic humanity, expressed this ambiguity by designating Heracles as a fpos @edc, a “hero-god” (Nem. 3,22)-—that is, “a hero who has become a god in reward for his sufferings and prowess.”!4 Like Herodotus, the Stoic philosopher Cleanthes proposed that there were in fact two different figures named Heracles—one the god and the other the hero.!® Arrian proposed three different figures named Heracles: the son of Alcmene, the Tyrian Heracles, and the Egyptian Heracles (Anabasis ‘Alexandri 2.16). This tendency was taken to extremes by the rationalist 10. Herodotus 2.44; 2 Mace 4:19; Josephus Contra Ap. 1118-19; Ant. 8.146; Arrian Anabasis Alexandri 2.16.18; Aelius Aristides Or. 40.10. 11. Nilsson, Mycenean Origin, 187-220 (on Heracles). Nilsson argues that Heracles’ connection with Thebes (the site of his birth) and Tirynsis was the result of the Greek propensity to localize heroes, and that all local cults were secondary institutions 12. Friedrich Pfister, Der Reliquienkult im Altertum (Giessen: Tépelmann, 1909-12) 480-88. 13 The distinction between a hero and a god was maintained primarily through distin sacrificial protocol; of, W. K.C, Guthrie, The Greeks and Their Gods (Boston: Beacon Press, 1950) 220-21; Paul Stengel, Die griechischen Kultusaltertiimer (Miinchen: Beck, 1920) 138-44. 14. C. W, Bowra, Pindar (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1964) 45f 15. J. von Arnim, Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta (Stuttgart: Teubner, 1964) 1. 115f. (frag. 514).6 ESSAYS IN HONOR OF ABRAHAM J. MALHERBE Roman mythographer Varro, who thought that forty-three different figures bearing the name Heracles should be distinguished.!° Heracles, whose name means “glory of Hera” (which is odd, since Hera was his chief antagonist), was the son of Zeus and Alemene. Because Alemene’s husband, Amphitryon, had sexual relations with her shortly after Zeus visited her, she conceived and bore twins. Whereas Alcides (Heracles’ original name) was the son of Zeus, his twin, Iphicles, was the son of Amphitryon. The adventures of Heracles may be grouped into three types of activities:!7 (1) the Twelve Labors (the so-called canonical tasks assigned to him by Eurystheus to purify him for killing his wife and children, the completion of which earned him immortality); (2) the napépya, or “subsidiary activities” (the uncanonical deeds that punctuated, but were incidental to, the completion of the Twelve Labors); and (3) his military expeditions, as a prototype of Alexander and the embodiment of the Stoic ideal of kingship (Dionysius Hal. Ant. Rom. 1.41.1-44.2). These are framed by stories of his birth and youth on the one hand and of his self-immolation and apotheosis on the other. The complexity of Heracles’ mythological character is such that only a few relatively late accounts make any attempt to synthesize the many mythic episodes that came to be associated with his life and adventures.!® With the exception of Euripides’ Alcestis,'® literary adaptations of the Heracles theme fail to provide complete and balanced portraits of the hero's major traits but tend to explore only a restricted selection of his traditional characteristics. There is a very real sense in which his personality was a pastiche of Greek social and cultural values, thereby accounting for his enormous popularity. One consistent trait of Heracles is his massive physique and physical strength, though Cynics pointedly rejected the athletic image of Heracles with bulging muscles (Dio Chrys. Or, 8.30). He was also given to excess. Ina fit of madness, he murdered his wife, Megara, and his sons, a deed for which he had to seek purification through performing the Twelve Labors. He is also portrayed as a world conqueror and a civilizer of humankind (Euripides Her- cules Furens 851f., 875ff., 1252, 1309). In Seneca, Heracles claims, 16. Cf, Augustine Civ. Dei 18.12. Herodotus (2.43.1, 4) distinguishes between an Egyptian Heracles (probably Khonsu; cf. 2.42.3, 5), one of the Twelve Gods, and the Greek Heracles; cf. Charlotte R. Long, The Twelve Gods of Greece and Rome (Leiden: Brill, 1987) 147. 17, On the Twelve Labors, see Frank Brommer, Herakles: Die ztwélf Taten des Helden in antiker Kunst und Literatur (2. Aufl.; KéIn und Wien: Bohlau Verlag, 1972). On the uncanonical deeds, see Frank Brommer, Herakles II; Die unkanonischen Taten des Helden (Darmstadt: Wissenschaft. liche Buchgesellschaft, 1984). 18. The three most extensive syntheses are found in Diodorus 48-39 (cf. 40-53) on Heracles’ role in the adventures of Jason (an account perhaps dependent on an encomium on Heracles by Matris of Thebes; cf. Schwartz, PW 5. 673ff,), Apollodorus 2.4.5-2.8.5 (dependent on Phere- cydes), and Aelius Aristides Or. 40, a eulogy in honor of Heracles. 19. Galinsky, The Herakles Theme, 66-73. 20. Cf, the Famese Heracles, by Lysippus, which depicts a weary Heracles with exaggerated musculature leaning on his club draped with a lion skin (J. J. Pollitt, Art in the Hellenistic Age {Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986] 50, plate 41).DAVID E. AUNE ~ Il monsters have I subdued and in ; trans. Miller in LCL) Peace has been given to earth, to sky, to sea; triumph come again. ( Hercules Oetaeus, 794 Further, when Heracles conquered Hades, he conquered death itself: He has crossed the streams of Tartarus, subdued the gods of the underworld, and has retumed. (Seneca Hercules Furens 889f.) His love for his nephew, though he sired sixty-eight sons, is held up as exem- plary, as is his grief over the death of his brother, Iphicles (Plutarch De fraterno amore 492C-D). Whereas the adaptations of the Heracles theme in Homer and Hesiod focused on the hero’s external actions and adventures, without particular moral purposes or concerns, Heracles’ inner life, including his intellect, emo- tions, and conflicts (though of little interest to Cynics), was explored and developed by Greek tragedians. The mature Heracles was thought skilled in prophecy and proficient in logic (Plutarch De E apud Delphos 387D; cf. Hip- polytus Ref, 5.26.26-28). He was associated by some with eloquence and dialectic (Lucian Hercules 4).?! Heracles’ attainment of immortality was regarded in the tradition as a consequence of the successful completion of the AwdexéOAoc, or Twelve Labors (Lucian Deorum Concilium 6). Consequently, the message conveyed was that through toil and suffering, a human being can become a god. This is perhaps the central reason for the great popularity of Heracles; according to W.K.C. Guthrie, “the career of Herakles offered new hope to the ordinary man.”22 There was a widespread view in the Hellenistic world, justified by the allegorical interpretation of the Twelve Labors, that Heracles achieved the status of the Olympian gods through virtue. This view was reflected in the Prodicus myth (see below) and was reinforced by the allegorical understand- ing of his divine sonship as rowdeia or doxnors (Dio Chrys. Or. 2.78; Epictetus Diss. 2.16.44). Deification for merit was a Stoic topos,>! and one that cohered with a Euhemeristic interpretation: “Human experience more- over and general custom have made it a practice to confer the deification of renown and gratitude upon distinguished benefactors. This is the origin of Hercules, of Castor and Pollux, of Aesculapius, and also of Liber” (Cicero De nat, deor. 2.24.62; trans. Rackham in LCL). Euhemerism is also reflected in 21, Ragnar Héistad, Cynic Hero and Cynic King (Lund: Carl Blom, 1948) 69-72. 22. Guthrie, The Greeks and Their Gods, 239. 93. Dionysius of Hal. Ant. Rom. 1.40; Plutarch De Is. et Osir. 361E; Reg. et Imp. 229F; Augus- tine Civ. Dei 18.8. According to Seneca (De prov. 1.5), only the wise and good man is truly the offspring of God and truly ike God. Its for this reason that Seneca used Heracles as the paradig: matic Stoic wise man in his tragedies; cf. Emil ‘Ackermann, “Der leidende Hercules des Seneca,” Rheinisches Museum fiir Philologie 67 (1912) 425f. 24. Cicero De nat. Deor. 1.15.38-39 (Von Arnim, Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta 1. 448); 2.62.8 ESSAYS IN HONOR OF ABRAHAM J. MALHERBE Scaevola, used by Varro, who in turn is quoted by Augustine. Augustine thinks that the public should not be told that “Hercules, Aesculapius, Castor, and Pollux are not gods, for it is related by the learned that they were men and passed on from the mortal state” (Civ. Dei 4.27; trans. Wiesen in LCL). According to Dio Chrysostom (Or. 1.59-60), Heracles was not only king of all Greece, but of the entire world as well. The myth of Heracles’ choice, com- posed by Prodicus,”° is also found in other versions (including one that some have attributed to Antisthenes (Dio Chrys. Or. 1.69-84),?° changes an earlier conception that Heracles completed his Twelve Labors through necessity (&véeren), and emphasizes the fact that his deeds were accomplished volun- tarily. CYNIC AND STOIC CONCEPTIONS OF HERACLES Heracles was considered “the greatest example [napddevyne] of this [that is, the Cynic] lifestyle” (Julian Or. 6.187C), and in Lucian’s Vitarum Auctio (8), Diogenes the Cynic is made to claim that he patterns his life after Hera- cles.2” Elsewhere, Lucian suggests that the austere Cynic Peregrinus,2’ who reportedly carried a club, as Heracles did, committed suicide by self- immolation, following Heracles to the point of imitating his death (De morte Per. 21, 24, 36).° Lucian quotes Peregrinus as saying that “one who had lived as Heracles should die like Heracles” (33). Lucian mentions the philosopher Sostratus, who was nicknamed Heracles: “I have written about Sostratus else- where, and have described his size and excessive strength, his open-air life on Parnassus, his bed that was no bed of ease, his mountain fare and his deeds (not inconsistent with his name) achieved in the way of slaying robbers, mak- ing roads in untravelled country and bridging places hard to pass” (Demonax 1; trans, Harmon in LCL). Like Heracles, the Cynic lived simply and endured pain and suffering in order to be liberated from the constraints of physical life. Cynics proclaimed this message of liberation to all who would listen. When Dio Chrysostom describes the exile of the Cynic sage Diogenes from Sinope, he has Diogenes describe his hunger, thirst, and poverty and then describes the labors of Hera- 25. Xenophon Mem. 2.1.34; Diels-Kranz, Fragmente der Vorsokratiker 2. 313-16 (frag. B.2); cf. Philostratus Vit. soph. 1. praef., 12. Justin uses the myth in a positive way in 2 Apol. 12. 26. The doxography on two types of training attributed to Antisthenes in Diogenes Laertius 6.70-71 is probably an early example of Cynic propaganda, which at the same time reflects the Cynic idealization of Heracles; of. Hiistad, Cynic Hero, 37-47. Julian adapted the Prodicus myth, placing himself in the role of Heracles (Or. 7. 34C). 27. The most detailed study of this subject is Héistad, Cynic Hero, 22-73. 28. Abraham J. Malherbe, “Self-Definition among Epicureans and Cynics,” Self-Definition in the Greco-Roman World (vol. 3 of Jewish and Christian Self-Definition; ed. B. E. Meyer and E. P. Sanders; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1982) 51. 29. Although there is evidence for Cynic and Stoic suicides, there is little evidence to suggest that these were done in imitation of Heracles; Peregrinus is unique.DAVID E. AUNE 9 cles. The audience would naturally see the implicit comparison with Dio's own experience of exile by Domitian (Or, 8). The Cynic emphasis on xap- pnota, “frank speech,” is a characteristic also found in Heracles (Philo Quod omn. prob. 99, with a citation from Euripides). Heracles, though at one time a slave of Syleus, also acted as if he were free, and even acted as if he were the master of Syleus (100-104). Philo compares the Xanthians to Heracles: “Now these to escape the merciless cruelty of tyrannical enemies chose death with honour in preference to an inglorious life, but others whom the circumstances of their lot permitted to live, endured in patience, imitating the courage of Heracles, who proved himself superior to the tasks imposed by Eurystheus” (120; trans. Colson in LCL). Begging was approved by Cynics so that the proceeds could be used to do the sort of things Heracles did (Ps.-Diogenes Ep. 10.1 (Hercher, Epistolog, Graec. p. 238]). Cynies were encouraged to see parallels between themselves and Heracles: “But as for you, consider the ragged cloak to be a lion’s skin, the staff a club, and the wallet land and sea, from which you are fed. For thus would the spirit of Heracles, mightier than every turn of fortune, stir in you” (Ep. 26 [Hercher, p. 241]; trans. Malherbe). Heracles became the model of the courageous and victorious conqueror and so became the exemplar for generals, kings, and emperors. Dio Chrysos- tom (Or. 1.84; cf. Seneca Hercules Oetaeus 1330) referred to Heracles as “the savior of the world and of humanity” (tig Yiig Kai tov dvOpadnov corfipa), and Julian (Or. 7.220A) similarly described him as “the savior of the world” (26 kop cwrfipa). The term cwtp, however, refers to the actions of the ideal king and philosopher, a supreme benefactor for his people, and so has more political and moral than religious overtones. Isocrates, in giving advice to Philip of Macedon, used his mythical ancestor Heracles as a pan-Hellenic example of the wise ruler who embodied @AavOponta (Or. 5.109-115). ‘Alexander the Great claimed to be a descendant of Heracles and depicted him on his coins, perhaps thereby presenting himself as the hero.*! Alexander purportedly had a son named Heracles by Barsine of Pergamon (Diodorus 20.20, 28). Plutarch has Alexander claim to be a conscious imitator of Hera- cles, Perseus, and Dionysus (De Alexandri magni fortuna 1.10.332A). Like Heracles, Alexander toiled greatly, performed great deeds, and ultimately was thought to have been apotheosized. The Antigonids emphasized their descent from Heracles and used his club as an emblem on their coinage. The Roman emperor Caligula reportedly dressed himself up on different occasions as Heracles, the Dioscuri, and Dionysus (Philo Leg ad Gaium 78-85, 90). “Heracles” was a title of honor given to Nero by acclamation (Dio Cassius 62.20.5): “Hail to Nero, our Heracles!”, and Suetonius reports that he planned 30, Arrian Anabasis Alexandri 3.3.2; 4.10.6; Julius Caesar saw a statue or picture of Alexander in the temple of Heracles at Gades (modem Cadiz), placed there in all likelihood because of the sup- posed genealogical relationship between Heracles and Alexander (Suetonius Tul. 7.1; Dio Cassius 3752.2), 31. Pollitt, Art in the Hellenistic Age, 25, plates 13a and 13b,10 ESSAYS IN HONOR OF ABRAHAM J. MALHERBE to emulate Heracles by killing a lion in an amphitheater with a club or his bare hands (Suetonius Nero 53). Domitian dedicated a temple to Heracles with a cult statue bearing his own features (Martial Ep. 9.64, 65).52 Cynics and Stoics alike used Heracles as a symbol for the human desire to achieve final peace and reward after great toil (névoc).23 Antisthenes, whom Diogenes Laertius regarded as the teacher of Diogenes and, consequently, the founder of Cynicism, “demonstrated that pain is a good thing by instancing the great Heracles and Cyrus, drawing the one example from the Greek world and the other from the barbarians” (Diog. Laert. 6.2; trans. Hicks in LCL). Antisthenes was a prolific writer who wrote three or four lost treatises on Heracles that probably depicted the hero as an example of the Cynic emphasis on mastering human frailties.° He perhaps continued the allegorical treat- ment of Heracles found in the writings of such Sophists as Herodorus and Prodicus. Prodicus had earlier produced an epideictic speech entitled “The Training of Heracles by Virtue” (Xenophon Mem. 2.1.34), in which the hero’s education in virtue was presented as an allegorical story of a choice between two roads, the path of virtue or the path of vice (2.1.21-33). Diogenes, who supposedly wrote a tragedy entitled Herakles, was the only fourth-century Cynic to write on Heracles.” The intellectual Cynic philosopher Dio Chrysos- tom adapted (or was perhaps dependent on an earlier adaptation by Antisthenes for) the story of Prodicus, in which the choice between a life of virtue or vice became a choice between kingship and tyranny, represented by Trajan and Domitian, respectively (Or. 1.48-84).57 Heracles, Odysseus, Socrates, and Musonius Rufus were widely tauted as moral examples (Origen C. Cels. 3.66). Those who died a noble death—Heracles, Asclepius, and Orpheus—were also held in high esteem (7.53). Cynic propaganda concerning Heracles had several objectives. First, it attacked the traditional view of Heracles as suffering against his will (Sopho- cles Trachiniae; Euripides Hercules Furens), though voluntary suffering was acceptable (Dio Chrys. Or. 8.35; Epictetus 3.22.57; 3.26.31). Second, it attacked the popular conception of Heracles as a muscle-bound moron, 32. Cf. Martial Ep. 101, in which the poet compares the deeds of Alcides minor (Heracles) with Alcides maior (Domitian), 33. Donald R. Dudley, A History of Cynicism (Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1967 [orig. pub. 1937]) 13, 43, 34. Dudley rejects the relationship between Antisthenes and Diogenes as a fiction sponsored by Stoies to establish continuity between themselves and Socrates, and considers Diogenes the red founder of Cynicism; cf. Dudley, A History of Cynicism, 1-16 (also the view of F. Sayre, Diogenes of Sinope: A Study of Greek Cynicism (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1938], who, however, regards Crates as the founder of Cynicisin). This view is problematic, however, since the asceticism of Diogenes has links with a pre-Cynic “Socratic” asceticism, 35. Diogenes Laertius 2.61; 6.16, 17, 104f.; Socrates and the Socratics Ep. 9.4 (Hercher, 617), 36. Diogenes Laertius 6.50; Galinsky, The Herakles Theme, 107, suggests that this lost work was more a didactic treatise than a tragedy, 37. Cf. C. P. Jones, The Roman World of Dio Chrysostom (Cambridge; Harvard University Press, 1978) 116-19. 38. Hoistad, Cynic Hero, 59f,DAVID E. AUNE i athlete, glutton, and boor (as he was depicted in comedy, satyr plays, and Euripides’ Alcestis). Third, Heracles is understood from an individual ethical point of view, with divine sonship referring to proper moral training (Dio Chrys. Or. 4.29, 31; Diogenes Laertius 6.70-71). HERACLES AND THE GOSPELS There have been a number of attempts during this century to demonstrate that the legend of Heracles has had a significant impact on the formulation of the life of Jesus as portrayed in the canonical Gospels.” In two articles pub- lished in 1907 and 1912, Emil Ackermann called attention to, but did not attempt to explain, various similarities between aspects of the life of Jesus and the life of Heracles, though he restricted his data relating to Heracles to the tragedies of Seneca.” Theodor Birt pushed the parallels further by implying, though not explicitly claiming, that the Gospel tradition (which he referred to as “proto-Matthew” and “proto-Mark”) was dependent on the Heracles legend.! Perhaps the most bizarre attempt to link the figure of Heracles to that of Jesus was that of Friedrich Pfister in 1937:2 Pfister suggested that the author of the “Urevangelium’ (from which each of the Synoptic Gospels was derived) modeled the story of Jesus after a Cynic-Stoic Heracles biography. Under four main headings (“Birth Story,” “Youth,” “Mature Activities,” and “Death and Ascent to Heaven’), Pfister lists twenty-one parallels between the lives of Jesus and Heracles. These parallels are of mixed quality. A few are excel- Jent8 whereas many are very weak or not really parallels at all: others reveal 39. A brief review and critique of this liteature is found in Marcel Simon, Hercule et le Chris tianisme (Paris: Editions Orphrys, 1955) 49-74; a briefer survey is found in Malherbe, “Herakl 568-73, 40. Emil Ackermann, “De Senecae Hercule Oetaeo,” Philologus Supplementband 10 (1907) 33-498; idem, “Der leidende Hercules des Seneca,” 425-71. Although the authenticity of Hercules Octaeus continues to be disputed, the issue of authorship is irrelevant to the study of parallels with the Gospels. ‘41, Theodor Birt, Aus dem Leben der Antike (3. Aufl Leipzig: Teubner, 1922) 42 Friedrich Pfister, “Herakles und Christus,” Archiv fiir Religionswissenschaft 34 (1937) 42-60; Pfister concluded on p. 58: “The comparison made by us indicates without doubt, in my opinion, that there is much more here than fortuitous coincidences and typological similarities, bt that there must have existed a documentary dependence that stems from a Cynic-Stoie Hera- cles biography antedating the Synoptic Gospels.” $3, Pfister, “Herakles und Christus,” 46-47: Both Jesus and Heracles, its claimed, were born to maidens who had no previous sexual intercourse with their husbands (Luke 1:26; Matt 1:24-25; Apollodorus 2.4.7-8); both were called “son of God” (Luke 3:23; 4:23; Ovid Met. 15.49). the phrase “itis finished” (peractum est) is uttered by Heracles just before his death three times in Boneca Hercules Octaeus (lines 1340, 1457, 1472), whereas the corresponding term in Greek, ‘teré)eotat, is used twice by Jesus in John 19:28, 30, just before he expires. 44, According to Pfister, just as Herod killed the children of Bethlehem but Jesus was saved by the flight to Egypt, so Hera sent two serpents into the room of the infants Heracles and Iphicles, but Heracles strangled them. Another foolish parallel he adduces is that the followers of Christ were called Christians, just as the descendants of Heracles were called Heraclidae.12 ESSAYS IN HONOR OF ABRAHAM J. MALHERBE only that the more general figure of the hero or divine man has influenced some of the more legendary features of the Gospel narratives. The basic weakness of Pfister’s proposal, however, is that his so-called Urevangelium is essentially a synthesis of material from all the Gospels, whereas his Cynic- Stoic “life of Heracles” is a pastiche of themes and motifs culled from a wide selection of Greco-Roman texts. Yet as H. J. Rose suggested, and Wilfred Knox has argued in more detail,® the legendary elements in the Gospels are often the result of the influence of themes and motifs widely associated with the lives of heroes in the Greco-Roman world, of which Heracles was certainly the most prominent. This leads us to consider a very different, more detailed, and nuanced approach to the problem, the proposal made by Arnold J. Toynbee.*7 Toynbee discussed various ways in which saviors sought salvation in a disintegrating Hellenistic society by means of the “time machine,” that is, by archaism (escape from the present to an ideal past) or futurism (escape from the present to an ideal future). In comparing Jesus with a variety of Hellenistic saviors, all historical figures (for example, Aristonicus, Eunus, Catiline, Agis, Cleomenes, the Gracchi, and Cato Minor), Toynbee enumerates eighty-seven points of comparison.** Discounting literary dependence, Toynbee proposes that “the Gospels contain, embedded in them, a considerable number and variety of elements which have been conveyed to them by the stream of ‘folk- memory,” and “the Gospels contain elements which are not ‘historical’ in the conventional usage of that word.” Toynbee then asks whether “folk-memory” has channeled elements from pagan authors to the Gospels or whether the Gospels and pagan authors are mutually dependent on “folk-memory.”® The possible common source he proposed is the legend of Heracles, particularly the portrait of Hercules Philosophus. Toynbee finds twenty-four points of correspondence between the Jesus of the Gospels and the Heracles of Greek legend.°! Because many of these features also characterize pagan historical heroes, Toynbee concludes: “this finding suggests that the legend of Heracles may be an important common source from which the story of Jesus on the one side and the stories of the pagan historical heroes on the other side may have 45. See the critiques of Pfister’s proposal by H. J. Rose, “Herakles and the Gospels,” HTR 31 (1938) 113-42; Simon, Hercule et le Christianisme, 51-55; Malherbe, “Herakles,” 569-72. 46. Wilfred L. Knox, “The ‘Divine Hero’ Christology in the New Testament,” HTR 41 (1948) 229-49; on p. 233 Knox observes: “In any case Heracles will supply most of our parallels and this is only natural in view of his popularity in the Stoic and Cynic circles which stood nearest to Juda- ism and Christianity; in spite of all condemnations of pagan mythology we find an affinity between Jewish-Christian and pagan language which can hardly be due to chance,” 47. Amold J. Toynbee, A Study of History (Oxford: Oxford University Press; London: Hum- phrey Milford, 1939) 6. 376-539. 48. Toynbee, A Study of History, 6. 376-406. 49. Toynbee, A Study of History, 6. 457. 50. Toynbee, A Study of History, 6. 464. 51. Toynbee, A Study of History, 6. 469-475DAVID E, AUNE 13, derived some of their common features, independently of one another, through separate channels of the stream of ‘folk-memory.’”°? Marcel Simon considers Toynbee’s approach infinitely more satisfying than that of Pfister and expresses general agreement with “the hypothesis of spon- taneous imitation through the channel of popular tradition which he [Toyn- bee] has developed with such penetration, method and persuasive force.” The really difficult task in analyzing the Gospels, according to Simon, is to determine with precision where historical reality ends and fiction begins.4 One major problem with Toynbee’s approach, however, is that he nowhere recognizes that those features of the Heracles legend that have analogies in the Gospels also have many parallels in the lives of other mythical heroes This suggests that the Heracles legend was not as influential in the accounts of pagan historical heroes and the Gospel accounts of Jesus as the pattern or morphology implicit in the “lives” of ancient heroes. Lord Raglan proposed a pattern of twenty-two elements that he applied to twenty-one traditional heroes and gods, including Theseus, Romulus, Heracles, Perseus, Zeus, and Jason.® Although there have been a number of other attempts to deal with the problem of the significance of the morphology of the hero, no thoroughly satisfying explanation has yet been proposed for why communal re-creations of the lives of heroes exhibit so many stereotypical features in common. HERACLES IMAGERY IN HEBREWS Early Christians gave expression to their conception of the ultimate reli- gious significance of Jesus by utilizing a variety of metaphors and symbols. Because the coherence of Christology based on such figurative language lies ona different level than that of the logic and consistency expected in theologi- cal or philosophical discourse, there are many apparent inconsistencies in the christological imagery of such major segments of the New Testament as the Pauline letters, Johannine literature, and the anonymous Letter to the Hebrews. Hebrews is distinctive in that it places a greater emphasis on the historical Jesus than any other document in the New Testament outside the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles.” Although the author uses traditions 52. Toynbee, A Study of History, 6. 475. 53. Simon, Hercule et le Christianisme, 63. 54. Simon, Hercule et le Christianisme, 65. 55. Fitzroy William Sommerset (Lord Raglan), The Hero: A Study in Tradition, Myth and Drama (New York: Vintage, 1956). 56. Archer Taylor, “The Biographical Pattern in Traditional Narrative,” Journal of the Folklore Institute 1 (1964) 114-29; Jan de Vries, Heroic Song and Heroic Legend (trans. B. J. Timmer: New York: Oxford University Press, 1963); Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (Prince- ton: Princeton University Press, 1968). 57. This topic has not yet been adequately investigated; for discussions of the problem, see Olof Linton, “Hebréerbrevet och den ‘historiske Jesus.’ En studie till Hebr. 5:7,” STK 26 (1950) 338ff.; Mb. Hansen, “Den historiske Jesus og den himmelske upperstepraest i Hebracerbrevet,” DTT 26 (1963) 1-22; Ulrich Luck, ‘Himmlisches und irdisches Geschehen im Hebrierbrief. Ein Beitrag zum Problem des ‘historischen Jesus’ im Urchristentum,” NovT 6 (1963) 192-215, Erich14 ESSAYS IN HONOR OF ABRAHAM J. MALHERBE similar to those found in the canonical Gospels, it is also probable that he drew upon Jesus traditions from unknown sources. Several such christological traditions in Hebrews exhibit themes and motifs that are associated with ancient conceptions of Heracles. Two of the central christological metaphors of Hebrews are son and high priest. The author sometimes uses the title Son of God when speaking of Jesus as a preexistent divine being (1:2), but at other times he suggests that Jesus became the Son of God at the end of his earthly career (1:4-5; 2:9; 5:5; 6:20; 7:28).6! The Stoic philosopher Cornutus, in the first century A.D., describes Heracles as “the Logos permeating everything, giving nature its force and cohesion.” Seneca, a contemporary of Cornutus, claims that God, the divina ratio who is the author of the world, can be called by many names, including Heracles (De beneficiis 4.7.1-8.1). Seneca, who wrote two tragedies with the “historical” Heracles as the protagonist (Hercules Furens and Her- cules Oetaeus), thus puts himself in the position of implying a kind of doctrine of incarnation for Heracles. Although the author knows the redemptive pattern also found in Phil 2:5-11, 1 Tim 3:16, and Col 1:15-20, he has not fully integrated it with adoptionistic traditions. A distinctive feature of Hebrews is that Jesus is presented as having under- gone a process of “education” in suffering through which he learned obedi- ence and ultimately attained perfection.“ Heb 5:8-9 states that “although he was a Son, he learned [éuo@ev] obedience [dnoxor] through what he suffered [Ero@ev]; and being made perfect [tehevoBetc] he became the source of eter- nal salvation to all who obey him.” Although the author clearly portrays Jesus as a human being, he also is careful to mention his sinlessness (4:15). Accord- ing to Heb 2:10, it is clear that “perfection” was the result of the suffering that Christ experienced: “For it was fitting that he [that is, God] ... should make the pioneer [épynyéc] of their salvation perfect through suffering [816 nan- » “Der historische Jesus im Hebrierbrief,” ZNW 56 (1965) 63-91; B. L. Melbourne, “An Examination of the Historical-Jesus Motif in the Epistle to the Hebrews,” AUSS 26 (1988) 281-96. 58. Grisser, “Der historische Jesus,” 73-87, discusses three traditions found in Hebrews: (1) Jesus’ descent from Judah (Heb 7:14), (2) The allusion to Gethsemane (Heb 5:7); Harold Attridge, however, argues correctly that “this picture of Jesus at prayer cannot be simply derived from any known tradition on the subject” (The Epistle to the Hebrews [Philadelphie Fortrese, 1989], 148). (3) Jesus’ death “outside the gates” (Heb 13:12) 59. Most recently, see M. C. Parsons, “Son and High Priest: A Study in the Christology of Hebrews,” EQ 60 (1988) 195-215. 60. Martin Hengel, The Son of God (trans. J. Bowden; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1976) 86-88. 61. Cf. John Knox, The Humanity and Divinity of Christ (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1967) 34-49; J. D. G. Dunn, Christology in the Making (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1980) 51-56. 62. Cornutus Theologiae Graecae compendium 31; ef. Simon, “Christianisme antique et pensée Paienne: Recontres et Conflits,” Le Christianisme antique et son contexte religieux, 1. 256f. 63. Simon, “Christianisme antique,” 257, 64. Oscar Cullmann, The Christology of the New Testament (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1963) 97f,; Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews, 153.DAVID E. AUNE 15 udtwv].” Jesus is presented in this way for parenetic reasons; he is an appro- priate model for his followers. It is also important to observe that the suffering involved does not appear limited to Passion week, but includes unspecified experiences throughout Jesus’ life.® This becomes clear in Heb 6:1, where, through a play on words, the author contrasts “the elementary doctrine [apxfig] of Christ” with “maturity” (thy teAerdtnta) expected of Christians. According to Heb 12:5-11, God trains or disciplines sons because God loves them. This point is clearly expressed in Heb 12:7: “It is for discipline [radefav] that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom the father does not discipline [madever]?” Here maxdeia, an important term in the Greek educational tradition, refers to the positive results of suffering. Dio Chrysostom (relying on earlier Cynic tradition) used the tradition of the divine-human sonship of Heracles as an allegory for two types of mandeta. or Goxnorg, “training, education” (Or. 4.29-32; cf. Diogenes Laertius 6.70-71), that is, the Cynic theory Atdc mots = nenordevpévos.” This equation is found in Dio Chrysostom (Or. 4.31; trans. Cohoon in LCL): “Men of old called those persons ‘sons of Zeus’ [Atd¢ motdag] who received the good education [dyo8fig rorSetac] and were manly of soul, having been educated [nenoudev- ugvovs] after the pattern of the great Herakles.” A similar correlation between suffering and training is discussed by Epictetus (3.22.56f,; trans. Old- father in LCL): “Does he [the Cynic] call upon anyone but Zeus? And is he not persuaded that whatever of these hardships he suffers [néoyn], it is Zeus that is exercising [youvater] him? Nay, but Heracles, when he was being exercised by Eurystheus, did not count himself wretched, but used to fulfil without hesitation everything that was enjoined upon him: and yet is this fel- low, when he is being trained [4@Aovpevoc] and exercised [ynvaspevoc] by Zeus, prepared to cry out and complain?” The term dpynyos is used of Jesus twice in Hebrews (2:10; 12:2) and several other times in early Christian literature (Acts 3:15; 5:31; 2 Clem. 20:5).55 It can mean “pioneer leader, founding leader,” or “initiator, founder, originator.” Aelius Aristides (Or. 3.27) refers to Heracles as “the common leader of all men,” and in Or. 40.14 claims that “he was the best champion of 65. Grasser, “Der historische Jesus,” 70-72. 66, CET, Moses 3.11 (trans. Charlesworth), where it is said of Moses that he “suffered many things in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wildemess for forty years”, On this, see David L Tiede, “The Figure of Moses in The Testament of Moses,” Studies on the Testament of Moses (ed. G. W.E. Nickelsburg; Cambridge: Society of Biblical Literature, 1973) 59. 17. Hibistad, Cynic Hero, 56-59. 68 Cf. the survey of opinions collected by G. Johnston, “Christ as Archegos,” NTS 27 (1951) 381-85. Johnston's proposal that épxny6s is dependent on the Hebrew term 872 or 12 is briefly put effectively rebutted by Herbert Braun, An die Hebrdier (HNT 14; Tubingen: J. C. B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1954) 404. 69. Johannes Louw and Eugene Nida (eds.), Greek-English Lexicon (New York: United Bible Societies, 1988) 1. 36.6, 68.2.16 ESSAYS IN HONOR OF ABRAHAM J. MALHERBE human nature and guided all men toward the best.’ In the Greek world, pxn70¢ is used of the god or hero who founded a city or nation, sometimes giving it his or her name (for example, Athena, Zeus, Apollo, Dionysus, and Moses).”! The term é&pynydc in this sense is also applied to Heracles. In his speech to the citizens of Tarsus, Dio Chrysostom refers to “founders” (6pyn- yot) of their city (Or. 33.1) and then speaks of the possibility of an invisible visitation by 6 dpxnyd¢ bwOv ‘HpaxAfis, “your founder Heracles” (Or. 33.47). In Heb 12:3-4, Jesus is set forth as one who endured in spite of abuse, hos- tility, and suffering and received a heavenly reward: “consider him who endured from sinners such hostility [avAoya] against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted [avtayoviCopevor] to the point of shedding your blood.”” This emphasis has a parallel in Aelius Aristides (Or. 40.22), who gives the gist of a divine voice he heard from the Metroon (a temple dedicated to the Great Mother): “It exhorted me to endure the present circumstances, since Heracles also endured his, although he was the son of Zeus.” (Compare with the phrase xatmep @v vidc in Heb 5:8.) The motif of undeserved hostility and abuse dished out by outsiders occurs frequently in Cynic chreiai (Dio Chrys. Or. 8.36; 9.8). The motif of the innocent suffering of Heracles was introduced by fifth-century Athenian dramatists, and the notion of guavOpeonta through suffering became part of the Heracles image;" in Euripides’ Hercules Furens, Heracles is portrayed as a suffering human benefactor (lines S851ff., 875ff., 1252, 1309), and in Sophocles’ Trachiniae, as a suffering god. According to Hoistad, “In the final scene of Euripides’ play [Hercules Furens] the problem of innocent suffering finds a purely immanent solution exemplary for all humanity. Heracles has descended to the world of man, exposed himself to the same sufferings and the same capricious fate as man must face.’ Dio Chrysostom depicted the various experiences of Heracles as including loneli- ness, poverty, nakedness, homelessness, and suffering (Or. 1.59-65). Although the suffering, death, and exaltation of Jesus are primarily in view in Heb 12:3-4, elsewhere the unknown author provides scattered indications 70. Charles A. Behr, P, Aelius Aristides, the Complete Works (Leiden: Brill, 1981, 1986), 1.203; 2.241, 71. G. Delling, TDNT, 1. 487f,; Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews, 87. Emst Kiisemann, The Wandering People of God (trans. R. A. Harrisville and I. L. Sandberg; Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1984) 128-33, emphasizes the importance of construing épynydc against the background of Gnos- tic tradition, a view shared by Braun, An die Hebriier, 58f., but opposed by Otto Michel, Der Brief an die Hebriier (12 Aufl.; Géttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1966) 144, 72, For other references to Heracles as épynyds, see Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews, 88, n, 104. 73. The author makes elaborate use of other exempla in Heb 11:1-40; cf. Michael R. Cosby, “The Rhetorical Composition of Hebrews 11,” JBL 107 (1988) 257-73. 74, Héistad, Cynic Hero, 198f.; Julian Or. 7.214D-215A. 75, Hoistad, Cynic Hero, 24-28 76. Hoistad, Cynic Hero, 27.DAVID E, AUNE 17 that he knew a connected form of the story of Jesus. In a chreia in Dio Chrysostom, Or. 8.11, a person reportedly asked Diogenes if he had come to watch the Isthmian games (&y@va). He replied that he was there as a partici- pant (éyovtospevoc). The man laughed and asked who Diogenes’ competi- tors [avtaywviotds] were, to which he replied “hardships” (xévovc) (12; ef. 15), such as hunger, cold, thirst, exile, and loss of reputation (16).”" In Heb 12:4, the verb évtayaviCecPan reflects either an athletic or military image, and the reference to “shedding your blood” in the same verse can refer to box- ing imagery, but also (but less probably) to military conflict.” According to Heb 4:14-16, Jesus is a great high priest who has “passed through the heavens” and who can understand our weaknesses since he has himself experienced temptation just as we have. Through prayer expressed boldly (uet& nappnoiag),’? Christians can therefore find “grace to help in time of need” (4:16). One important function of Heracles was as a helper and giver of strength in the difficulties of life, a conception that first appears in Pindar. Heracles is given the epithet néow épayé, “helper in everything,” in Orphica Hymni 12.6. There are several examples of prayers and references to prayer to Heracles for help in the trials of life. It was a widespread practice to promise a tithe to Heracles if he would send good luck.*! In what appears to be a Cynic polemic against popular conceptions of Heracles, Dio Chrysostom (Or. 8.28; LCL trans, with modifications) says, somewhat disparagingly, “All pray to him that they may not themselves suffer [é8A101]—to him who in his labours suffered [&9Aroavt1] exceedingly great.” According to Aristides, Or. 40.16 (trans. Behr), Heracles’ help was not limited to the duration of his life on earth: “Not only could one say all this about the god, some of whose deeds took place while he lived among mankind, and others of which he still now clearly performs by himself.” The kinds of help that Heracles was expected to provide are expressed in the following apotropaic inscription used as a motto inscribed on many door- ways:5 6 100 Arde nails KaAALViKos “Hpaxhfis évOdSe Katorxet, pNdév eiaitw KaxKdv. 77. C. Mussies, Dio Chrysostom and the New Testament (Leiden: Brill, 1972) 226f. 78, Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews, 360. 79. Although the Cynic emphasis on nappnota, “boldness, freedom,” involves primarily speech, here nappnota is a characteristic of how one approaches God (cf. Heb 3:6; 10: 19-22). 80. Note the beginning of the prayer in Pindar Nem. 7.94-97 (trans. Sandys in LCL): “And thee, O blessed Heracles, it beseemeth to persuade the consort of Hera and the grey-eyed maiden; for full often canst thou grant to mortals relief from distress inexplicable.” Cf. the prayer in the Homeric Hymn to Herakles 9 (LCL trans.): “Hail, lord, son of Zeus. Give me success and pros- perity [dpeniiv te xi SABov]"; and Julian Or. 7.220A (trans. Wright in LCL): “Now when we meditate on this, may Heracles be gracious to you and to me!” 81. Dionysius Hal. Ant. Rom. 1.40.5-6; Cicero De nat. deorum 3.36.88; Macrobius Sat. 3.12.2; Plautus Truc, 2.7.11; Tertullian Apol. 14.1; 39.15, 82. Diogenes Laertius 6.50; G. Kaibel, Epigrammata Graeca (Berlin, 1878), 1138 (inseription on a house wall at Pompei); Diogenes Ep. 36.1 (ed. Hercher, 249)18 ESSAYS IN HONOR OF ABRAHAM J. MALHERBE “The son of dwells herei 1s, gloriously triumphant Heracles, Let nothing evil enter.” Two of Heracles’ most popular epithets (mentioned together in Aristides Or. 40.15), which were often used synonymously, are reflected here: KaAALviKos, “exquisite victory,” is explicitly mentioned; and dAeEucdxog, “averter of evil,” is clearly implied. In this latter role, it is somewhat surprising that the name Heracles is missing from the Greek magical papyruses, though his apotropaic function, and therefore his ability to provide assistance to worshipers in time of need, is capitalized on in Orphica, Hymni 12.13-16: Immortal, world-wise, boundless and irrepressible, come, O blessed one, bringing all charms against disease; with club in hand, drive evil bane away and with your poisonous darts ward off cruel death. The obedience of Christ to the will of the Father is emphasized in Heb 5:8-9 and 10:5-10. In the first passage, Jesus is said to have learned obedi- ence (dnaxor}) through his sufferings (cf. Phil 2:8). Antisthenes, against the popular view of révog as a xaxdv and using Heracles as an example, argued that pain had a positive value and could be considered a good thing [5 névoc ya86v] with positive benefits (Diogenes Laertius 6.2). In Judaism, suffering was widely regarded as punishment for sin, yet suffering could have a positive effect in cleansing a person of sin. This obedience must in part be under- stood as an expression of endurance, a quality emphasized by Cynics. Obedi- ence to the will of Zeus is a frequently mentioned characteristic of Heracles, who always obeyed the commands of Zeus (Diodorus 4.11.1; Epictetus 2.16.44; 3.22.57; Menander Rhetor 2.380). In Hebrews, the author describes the exaltation of Jesus in terms of the metaphor of heavenly enthronement ad dextram dei (Heb 1:3; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2), a conception that the author links with the metaphor of Jesus’ presence in the most holy place (heaven) as high priest (cf. 6:20; 9:24). The resurrec- tion of Jesus receives scant formal attention just once (Heb 13:20, as part of a benediction that concludes with a doxology). The exaltation is described in different language in Heb 4:14-16; Jesus, the Son of God, is a great high priest who has “passed through the heavens [SteAnAvOdta tods odpavortc],” essen- tially a description of the exaltation as an ascension.*> Jesus’ exaltation is also described in Heb 2:9 as a reward for suffering: Jesus was “crowned [éate- gaveuevov] with glory and honor because of the suffering of death [81 10 n&Onpa to} Bavatov].” The same sentiment is reflected in Heb 12:2, where 83. Apostolos N. Athanassakis, The Orphic Hymns: Text, Translation, and Notes (SBLIT 12; Missoula: Scholars Press, 1977). 54. E. P. Sanders, “R. Akiba's View of Suffering,” JOR 63 (1972-73) 333; George Foot Moore, fudaism (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1927) 2. 248-56; E. E. Urbach, The Sages (Cam. bridge: Harvard University Press, 1987) 444-48 85. Michel, Der Brief an die Hebriter, 204f.; Braun, An die Hebrier, 124,DAVID E. AUNE 19 Jesus’ present status is the result of his endurance of suffering and death; he is described as “the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Although the notion of resurrection is largely absent from Heracles legends,® the notion that he was raised to Olympus with divine status was an integral part of the Heracles myth.*” The early tradition that Heracles had died (Homer Iliad 8.117-19), a view that some thought contradicted the belief that Heracles was a god, was recognized as a problem by the scholiast: “Some affirm that Homer was unaware that Heracles was apotheosized since he says that he died. Yet saying that he did not escape death does not indicate ignorance of his deification.”** Death and ascension to heaven resulting in deification are connected in the late account of Apollodorus (2.7.7; trans. Simpson): “Heracles commanded Hyllus, his elder son by Deianira, to marry Iole when he reached manhood, then went to Mount Oeta (in Trachis) and there constructed a pyre, climbed upon it and ordered it to be ignited. When no one would light it, Poeas, who was passing by in search of his flocks, set fire to it. Heracles then bequeathed his bow to him. While the pyre was burning a cloud is said to have enveloped Heracles and to have raised him up to heaven [ei¢ odpavov évanéuyar] with a crash of thunder. Thenceforth he was immortal.” Diodorus transmits a less mythological version, observing that people generally thought that Heracles “had been transferred [he8eotéo8a] from among men into the company of the gods” (3.38.5; cf. Justin Dial. 69.3). Despite the widespread popularity and symbolic value of the figure of Heracles in the Greco-Roman world, there is no convincing evidence that Heracles imagery played any significant role in the formation of legendary episodes about Jesus found in the canonical Gospels. The phenomenological similarity between aspects of the lives of Jesus and Heracles are rather to be attributed to the more general tendency of traditions about great personalities to conform to the morphology of Greco-Roman heroes through the folkloristic process of the communal re-creation of tradition. In contrast, the similarities between Heracles imagery and the Christology of Hebrews that have been explored above suggest that many of the important and vital functions attri- buted to Heracles as a Hellenistic savior figure were understood by some early Christians as applicable to Jesus to an even greater extent than they were to Heracles. 86. Josephus (Ant. 8.146) refers to a Tyrian festival called 109 ‘Hpaxdéovs Eyepors, “ of Heracles” (cf. Pfister, “Herakles und Christus,” 58f.). This is probably part of the c and rebirth associated with many Near Eastern fertility cults 87, Homer Odyssey 11.6024; Diodorus 4.39.2-4; Hesiod frag, 25.24-28 Merkelbach and West; Hesiod Theogonia 950-55; Seneca Agamemnon 812-16; Octavia 210-12. 88. W. Dindorf, Scholia Graeca in Homeri Iliadem (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1875) 2. 153; ef. Inscriptiones Graecae 14, 1806; Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum 6438: o¥8eic GBdvaros, Kai 6 “HpaxAfic éné0ave, “no one is immortal; even Heracles died.”