However, when Achilles touches Priam as token that he should have no fear; both gods and mortals are said to be asleep. There is a sense of will in Achilles' gentleness towards the man, and his willingness to touch Priam's sleeve that night. In othe 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...
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Homer in Hollywood: The Coen Brothers' O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Could a Hollywood filmmaker adapt Homer's Odyssey for the screen in the same way that James Joyce did for the Modernist novel? The idea of a high-art film Continue Reading...
Ulysses and Odyssey
ODYSSEY AND ULYSSES
Ulysses and Odyssey are on the surface two different stories dealing with different characters in different time period. Yet there is something about Joyce's Ulysses that constantly reminds you of Homer's Ody Continue Reading...
Penelope: The Crafty Ideal of Greek Womanhood
One might think of Achilles, the hero of the Iliad, as the Greek masculine ideal. He triumphs over his enemies in an open agonistic contest because he is a greater warrior than they. He shows the virtue Continue Reading...
Comparing the divine world in the Iliad and the Odyssey, Wolfgang Kullmann emphasizes that unlike in the Iliad, in the latter, "men themselves, not the gods, are responsible for their sufferings beyond their destined share. Gods, on the contrary, g Continue Reading...
Western Civilization
From Prehistory to the Renaissance
Early Civilizations
What do historians mean by "pre-history?" What was life like for early humans during these years?
There are many things that we as citizens of the modern world take for g Continue Reading...
Do you disagree with any of Pope's opinions or pronouncements in the Heroic Couplets or "An Essay on Man"?
Pope is critical of individuals who "cry, if man's unhappy, God's unjust," suggesting that the unhappiest people are people who blame God, r Continue Reading...
Eumaeus heard the discussion and said: "Don't listen to this girl, she has gone mad after having lost her father, the queen is not ready to pick a suitor yet!" I couldn't tell Eumaeus about my arrangement as he could have ruined it all.
After all t 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...
Also, from Herodotus's books we see that some of them, obeying the famous oracle of Delphi, or using its predictions as an excuse, decided to surrender, and give "earth and water." This is particularly relevant on the influence of religion in that Continue Reading...