<論説>古代ギリシア周辺世界における英雄伝説の受容

Abstract

古代ギリシア人は、英雄伝説によって周辺世界の異民族の起源を説明していた。一方、周辺世界の側でもギリシアの英雄を崇拝していた例が認められる。本稿では、そうした伝説の形成・受容の背景を明らかにした。すなわち、前八世紀以降、周辺世界に進出したギリシア人は、英雄伝説によって、外延に広がる世界を自身の世界認識のなかに秩序づけたのである。そして、前七～前六世紀、イタリアのエトルリア・ラティウムでは、英雄オデュッセウスの伝説が受容されたが、そこには、ギリシアとの関わりのなかで、王侯貴族が自己の新たなアイデンティティを規定する意味があった。また、ギリシア北西部エペイロス地方のモロッソス王家は、前五世紀後半、ペロポネソス戦争に参加したことを契機に、英雄アキレウスへと起源を遡る伝説によって、ギリシア世界に属すアイデンティティを確認した。こうした受容は、太古にまで遡ってギリシアとの結びつきを強めることとなったのである。

Ancient Greeks explained the origins of the barbarians in the periphery of Greece by Greek hero myths, and some heroes were worshipped by the barbarians. This paper examines the meaning of the creation and acceptance of such myths. From the 8th century B. C. on, Greeks colonized the coasts all over the Mediterranean Sea. Greeks explored the new lands and encountered many barbarians, and articulated their origins with Greek heroes. That is, Greeks conceptualized the new lands and the barbarians in the framework of hero myth that formed the Greek view of the world. Etruscans in Italy traded with Greeks and introduced Greek culture willingly especially between the 7th and 6th centuries B. C., and Latium was also influenced by Greek culture through Etruria. In these areas, some kings or aristocrats accepted the Greek hero Odysseus as the founder of their cities, or they regarded themselves as descendants of Odysseus. By the adoption, they defined their new identity in relation to Greece. The people of Epirus in the northeast of Greece were considered to be barbarians by the Greek polis dwellers. But the Molossians of Epirus participated in the Peloponnesian War in the latter half of the 5th century B. C. and they keenly realized the necessity to define their identity in the Greek world. Therefore, the royal family of the Molossians actively clamed themselves to be descendants of the Greek hero Achilles and confirmed their identity as belonging to Greek world. Such acceptance of the Greek hero myth intensified the relation to Greece and promoted the introduction of Greek Culture. That meaning of the hero myth is the important factor in understanding why Greek culture penetrated deeply into Etruria and Latium, Epirus, moreover Rome.