Edited by Rosario López Gregoris and Cristóbal Macías Villalobos
[IVITRA Research in Linguistics and Literature 23] 2020
► pp. 51–72
Heavy metal is the genre of popular music which probably has the greater presence of motifs of the classical tradition. But why are classical heroes ‘heavies’? By analysing some of the characteristics of the genre, this study indicates that the theme of the hero would seem to find a close connection with heavy metal’s ideological and aesthetic preferences. Besides that, this paper offers the example of works having different kinds of classical heroes: epic heroes, tragic heroes and adventurers. By doing so, it aims to suggest a meaningful dialogue between antiquity and modernity where the latter either reinforces or contests established values from the former.