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Troublemakers
Though an audience trained by the principle of chivalry and Christian sentiment might expect an epic hero to be a paragon of virtue, the ancient epic heroes were quite often more what the postmodernists have created in the modern antihero. So one can compare the protagonist of John Gardner's antiheroic Grendel -- in which the monster of an old dawn-of-Christianity epic becomes the hero of a postmodern tale -- not so much with the villains of older epics but with their heroes. In particular, one can compare the character of Grendel with Odysseus (particularly as he is seen in the Odyssey, though it is important to remember that both the Iliad and the Odyssey are written by Homer and as companion pieces function as elements of the same epic). Both Grendel and Odysseus are somewhat antiheroic: Grendel is a murderer and a trickster whose villainy defines a people, while Odysseus (whose very name apparently means troublemaker) is the grandson of a notorious thief who is himself known for his trickery and his elaborate lies. Yet though both are troublemakers and sorrowers, Grendel and Odysseus also share a certain heroism in their search for a spiritual and physical homecoming.
If one is to see how Grendel and Odysseus share a common quest,...
Odysseus begins the story of Odyssey trapped in Calypso's cave, and staring out across the ocean. He is dreaming of going home to Penelope, and he speaks often of Ithaca. Though he has the love of a goddess here, and everything physical he could desire, he still wishes to find his own level with his mortal wife. The way in which Odysseus speaks of a need to be with mortal kind helps to show that while this is mainly a need for a physical homecoming, there is also a significant spiritual element to it. Odysseus needs home and Penelope in order to become whole. Grendel, on the other hand, never goes far from his mother's cave. He does not have to travel vast distances like Odysseus. Yet he too is, in all his fascination with Hrothgar's people, in all his ramblings and rumblings, looking for a spiritual kind of home. Grendel appears to be the only thinking beast of his sort, and one could suggest that all his hatred and frustration stems from the need to find his personal Penelope: his equal. This is even made explicit in the word that he screams out whenever he realizes that he cannot join the humans: "the sound went out, violent, to the rims of the world, and after a moment it bounced back up at me…
Dante's Inferno And The Heroic Quest Like Homer's "The Odyssey," and "The Iliad," Dante's "The Inferno" begins with a kind of god's eye view of the world. However, rather than the gods looking down and squabbling about the morality of humans they see, Dante begins with his hero's face-to-face encounter with the divine, or at least a representative of the divine, the pagan poet Virgil. Virgil will be the poet's first
Those with issues to overcome are always more heroic. Hector also becomes a hero when, after at first running from Achilles, he eventually stands up to him and dies a heroic death. The Iliad is primarily a war epic. In your opinion, is the Iliad condemnation of the it could easily be argued that the Illiad glorifies war, as much of the poem is spent portraying the warriors as brave
Your answer should be at least five sentences long. The Legend of Arthur Lesson 1 Journal Entry # 9 of 16 Journal Exercise 1.7A: Honor and Loyalty 1. Consider how Arthur's actions and personality agree with or challenge your definition of honor. Write a few sentences comparing your definition (from Journal 1.6A) with Arthur's actions and personality. 2. Write a brief paragraph explaining the importance or unimportance of loyalty in being honorable. Lesson 1 Journal
However, because of Gilgamesh's thought that he may be invincible, he is actually putting his friend's life at risk by going on his adventure. In his attempt to prove that he is brave and that he would rather die for a cause, he actually indirectly causes the death of Enkidu, who shows that he was the stronger of the two. 5) Defining Honor Honor is a characteristic that few individuals posses.
Grendel And After that it's Elephants All the Way Done Wagner's Grendel is one of the most finely crafted pieces of postmodern fiction because it performs both of the functions with which postmodern literature is tasked. First, it is a work of literature that shines on its own, that offers a significant reward to the reader regardless of whether or not the reader is familiar with literary traditions. Second, the work addresses,
Madam Eglantyne the Nun, is also an ironic charater. She eats in a very refined manner and attempts other fine characteristics such as speaking French, although she fares poorly at this. Ironically, not all her language is pure, as she swears cosntantly by "St. Loy," a saint renowned for not swearing. Unlike the general conception of the Nun, she is very concerned with outward appearances and did not much care