He is described as being of gigantic size and of tremendous emotion. Always Achilles is described with the most exaggerated terms, shining like the sun or falling in the most absolute wretchedness. In a moment of sublimity oddly precognizant of goth Continue Reading...
Thetis' procurement of new armor, in a more simplistic tale, might be read as a mother letting go of a son from her apron-springs. But in the wisdom of the "Iliad," an epic that does not glorify death and war, Thetis' emotional sacrifice is full of Continue Reading...
Thematic Comparison: Divine Intervention in Homer & Virgil
Both works decently portray the horrors of warfare, and (albeit it in a reverent fashion) place the blame for this horror soundly at the feet of the gods. However while in Homer this int Continue Reading...
Homeric Epics and Mark
Dennis McDonald's The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark (2000) is a book that was always guaranteed to upset orthodox Christian theologians and biblical literalists and fundamentalists everywhere, since its main thesis held Continue Reading...
He is a full grown hero who only needs a goal to set him on his journey. Gilgamesh is young and inexperienced, and he needs help to grow and mature throughout his journey, which he obtains from his dear friend Enkidu. Gilgamesh has many lessons to l Continue Reading...
In his last moments, Hektor realizes he can never persuade Achilles because "in his breast is a heart of iron" (XXII.357). Achilles reveals his cold nature when he says, "Die: and I will take my own death at whatever time" (XXII.364) moments after H Continue Reading...
Introduction
The roles, ideals, views of men in the ancient civilization have been explored extensively in literature from the famous Kings of Israel to the mathematicians and philosophers of Greece. In contrast, the history entails limited literatur Continue Reading...
Homer was a legendary Greek poet who is traditionally credited as the author of the major Greek epics the "Iliad and the Odyssey," as well as the comic mini-epic "Batracholmyomachia" (The Frog-Mouse War), the corpus of Homeric Hymns, and various othe Continue Reading...
Satan in Paradise Lost
John Milton's epic work, Paradise Lost placed this remarkable 17th-century poet from England alongside Shakespeare, Homer, Virgil and Dante in world literature. A key character in the poem, Satan, failed in his revolt against Continue Reading...