Commodus called Hercules??
In lampridius’ biography Historia Augusta Commodus is portrayed as a gruesome vile individual. Killing any and everyone who opposes him in anyway. Lampridius even gives accounts of Commodus’ destructive behavior in his most peaceful moments. Calling some men one eye or one foot after plucking out the eye and cutting the foot. He was deceitful and disrespectful to his own religious gods. He loved gladiator combat and killed wild beasts which is, to me, as close as he comes to having some resemblance to Hercules. From the reading the club he is holding was used to hit the followers of Isis. I didn’t read into this part as much. I simply took it as an evil act or a cruel joke. In short I dislike the idea that a man like Commodus would adopt the name of a greek hero as valiant as Hercules even with the title Roman before it.
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New York Times Arts
I agree and disagree with Tony… The texts show how destructive, cruel and evil Commodus was, but this text seems to be from one person’s point of view. If these accounts were ALL true, then I too dislike the idea that a man like Commodus would adopt the name of Hercules. Especially because Hercules is a greek hero and the text portrays Commodus as a villain. On the other head, this text seems to be more catered in making Commodus look negative. For an example, at the beginning of the text, it states that when Faustina was pregnant with Commodus and his brother, she had a dream about how she gave birth to serpents. Although this is a good foreshadow and sets the mood for the reader, the writer did not have to write this information. This does not weigh on a person’s character. Therefore, I don’t think everything written is true. Maybe Commodus did many honorable and noble acts to adopt the name Hercules.
I agree with joe, this reading only seems to be in a one person point of view. Commodus can never be called Hercules because Commodus was a disrespectful man and he doe not really sound like a hero type. A hero is some one who helps people but Commodus doesnt help people he just destroys their lives. he also steals money because he pretend to go on a journey to Africa but he didn’t he just spent all the money.
The writer of the reading didn’t write Commodus like a hero. The writer wrote about all the evil stuff he did. But you can’t know if the writer is lying or not. If it true than Commodus can’t be compare to Hercules who is greek hero. Heroes don’t do evil stuff,they are who people admired for their good action they done. Commodus thought he was god people would perform sacrifices. He would lie to his people about going to trip to Africa but all he was use the money for banquets and gaming. This is what a hero wouldn’t do,Commodus can’t be compare to Hercules in this reading.
I agree with joeking in that the source is based off of one person’s point of view. How do we know the author(s) had not been personally involved with Commodus (meaning somebody he knew was killed, exiled, etc..) Also I looked up on ‘Historia Augusta’ and it’s unclear if the writings in this collection are all based on facts, exaggerations of actual accounts or pure fiction. So the question now is did Commodus really commit all of these atrocities or did someone decide to make his life seem more villainous?
Also when reading about Commodus Antoninus, I remembered the historical channel doing a show on Caligula (another Roman Emperor before Commodus’ time – Caligula was also known as Gaius). Many people slaughtered (sometimes entire families), the exile of dozens, the spending of money without any regard, unconscionable public displays (garbed in clothes of women, poking eye out, killing people just because), etc, basically reminded me of all the things Caligula had done while he ruled. He became known for his “cruelty, extravagance, and sexual perversity” [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligula]. However the speculations are that he suffered from mental illness due to encephalitis, epilepsy or meningitis.
Now if the accounts written about Commodus are true then could he had also suffered some sort of mental illness to a certain degree?
Excellent points, and good reminder that we should ALWAYS evaluate our sources, and question whether the writer chooses to exaggerate Commodus’ excessive behavior.
In my opinion Commudus isnt a hero. He was more of a cruel type of guy. From what i have read in the texts, it only comes froms one person point of view. I feel that if the texts are true, then it wasnt right for him to adopt the Hercules, because that name was a very famous name in Greek history since he was a Hero. Overall Commudus personality wasnt that to like. Supposedly he had suffered multiple illness, so could that have made him snap later in his life ?