Herostratus

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Herostratos ( ancient Greek Ἡρόστρατος , more rarely Ἡροστράτης ; Latin Herostratus , also Herostrates ; German Herostrat; † approx. 356 BC ) deliberately set fire to the temple of Artemis in Ephesus , one of the seven wonders of the ancient world , in order to deliberately set fire to it close.

Herostrat's act

The Temple of Artemis in the imagination of Maarten van Heemskerck (1498–1574)

To achieve immortal fame, he continued in 356 BC. - after Cicero and Plutarch , both of which refer to around 300 BC. Acting historian Timaios of Tauromenion , on the night in which Alexander the great was born - the 200-year-old temple of Artemis in Ephesus , built with the participation of King Kroisos, was set on fire and thus destroyed it. The city of Ephesus forbade the mentioning of his arson and even his name after he confessed to his crime and gave his motive under torture.

Despite the decreed damnatio memoriae, the contemporary historian Theopompus of Chios passed on the deed and name of Herostratos in his work, so that he achieved his goal and with his deed remains unforgotten to this day. Centuries later, Strabo , whose important sources included Theopompus, Aelian and Solinus mentioned the name. In the tradition that followed Timaeus, however, the name was not mentioned in connection with the fire, neither by Cicero nor by Plutarch, who mentions the rhetor Hegesias from Magnesia as a further informant , nor by Valerius Maximus or Gellius , the Herostratus - without naming him - as an example of unworthy people whose names should not be mentioned.

reception

The name Herostrat became a synonym for a person who destroys cultural assets or commits other irrational acts out of a desire for recognition. As Herostratus a person is designated accordingly, the misdeeds commits only to become famous.

Again and again, the act of Herostratos and his motives for it have been processed in art and literature, including by Juan Hidalgo (opera Celos aun del aire matan ), Georg Heym (poem Der Wahnsinn des Herostrat ), Ernest Reyer (opera Érostrate ), Marcel Schwob (The story of Herostrat in The Novel of Twenty-Two CVs ), Jean-Paul Sartre (the story of Érostrate in the Le Mur Collection ), Carl Ceiss (the play of Herostratos ) and Oliver Henkel (the story of The Immortality of Harold Strait in the volume of stories Wechselwelten ).

His name is also used in connection with philosophical or political ideas related to his act, such as in Fernando Pessoa's essay Herostrat .

Remarks

  1. ↑ Cicero, De natura deorum 2.69; De divinatione 1.47; Plutarch, Alexander 3.5.
  2. ↑ Valerius Maximus, Facta et dicta memorabilia 8,14, Ext. 5.
  3. ↑ Valerius Maximus, Facta et dicta memorabilia 8,14, Ext. 5.
  4. ↑ Strabo 14:22.
  5. ↑ Aelian, De natura animalium 6.40.
  6. ↑ Solinus, De mirabilibus mundi 40: 2-5.
  7. ↑ Cicero, De natura deorum 2.69; De divinations 1.47.
  8. ↑ Plutarch, Alexander 3.5.
  9. ↑ Valerius Maximus, Facta et dicta memorabilia 8,14, Ext. 5.
  10. ↑ Gellius, Noctes Atticae 2, 6, 18.
  11. ↑ Fernando Pessoa: Herostrat. An essay on literary fame and transience. In: Herostrat. The aesthetic discussion (= work edition. Vol. 7). Amman, Zurich 1997, ISBN 3-250-10380-2 , pp. 7-53.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Herostratus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Herostratus; Herostrates
BRIEF DESCRIPTION ancient arsonist
DATE OF BIRTH 5th century BC BC or 4th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH around 356 BC Chr.