El héroe Cerbero de Pharsalia

Abstract

In this paper we study the internal configuration of the three “main” characters of Pharsalia, Caesar, Cato and Pompey. Caesar’s demonic energy, Cato’s inhuman virtue or Pompey’s amechania forbids them to be considered the true “hero” of the poem and the same happens with certain actions and certain representations in the diegetical level, where Caesar’s bloodthirstiness, Cato’s funeral wedding or Pompey’s doubts all provide ground for moral and ethical ambivalences. These inadequacies in the inner structure of each character complement each other, subverting the representation of a traditional hero within the poem and forming a new kind of hero, a monstrous three headed monster more suited to a poem than sings the end of an era and proclaims the beginning of an atrocious new one.