Aristeia

Aristeia describes a hero's moment of greatest glory, the moment when a hero kills the most people. It is a Greek word and comes from aristos which means "the best". It is used many times in Homer's epic poem. the Iliad. Several heroes in the Illiad had moments of aristeia. These include Agamemnon, Diomedes, and Hector.Louden, Bruce (2006). The Iliad: Structure, Myth, and Meaning, pp. 80-89; 171. Johns Hopkins University Press. 

In Athens, Sparta,  and other city-states of Ancient Greece, the aristeia was a prize awarded to soldiers who had been very brave in battle.Hamel, Debra (1998). Athenian Generals: Military Authority in the Classical Period. pp. 64-69. Brill 

Lucan, a Roman poet who lived from 39 to 65 AD, wrote about moments of aristeia in his epic poem called Bellum Civile. His poem was about the war between Julius Caesar and Pompey. Virgil also used aristeia in his epic poem, the Aeneid.Gorman, Vanessa B. (2001).  "Lucan's Epic Aristeia and the Hero of the Bellum Civile", The Classical Journal, Vol. 96, No. 3, pp. 263-290. Retrieved 15 October 2018 .Clausen, Wendell V. (2012). Virgil's Aeneid: Decorum, Allusion, and Ideology, pp. 201-202. Walter de Gruyter. 

References

Further reading
Sammons, Benjamin (2017). Chapter 5 "Aristeia" in Device and Composition in the Greek Epic Cycle, pp. 157-176. Oxford University Press.  

Category:Ancient Greece