Images of Theseus before Tragedy

Abstract Every human being experiences a continuous interplay between past and present, because only by constantly referring to what is known already can the present be understood and preparations for the future be made. Something similar is true of human societies, for which the past can be defined as comprising certain events, personalities or institutions which are considered by most people to have a continuing relevance for their present and future prosperity. The function of this past is essentially aetiological because it purports to explain what has made the society what it is: it defines the nature of the society for its members, and the past is used as a guide to the future to encourage certain values and types of conduct. In the Greek world especially, what past generations were has a direct bearing on current ones, and particularly outstanding individuals or groups, whether from recent history or the heroic past, can be made to stand as allegedly typical examples of the prowess of the city as a whole, exemplifying behaviour which should be ‘natural’ for all its members. It need hardly be said that this so called ‘national character’ prescribes behaviour at least as much as it describes it, and that it is not necessarily fixed or free from contradictions, in spite of the way that it is usually presented, as something natural, time-honoured and self-evidently right.