HEROIC CODE Homer’s Iliad is an ancient epic tale of Greek gods, mythical creatures, and larger-than-life heroes. It is a collection of legends and events that documents a thousand-year-old oral tradition of ancient storytelling extinct today. Throughout the epic, there is a central theme that centers on the ideas of heroism, honor, pride, revolving around ...
One goddess with whom almost everyone is familiar is Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and sexual desire. But where Aphrodite came from remains a matter of great debate. Some believe that she was formed from seafoam, fully-grown, a nubile young beauty who simply bypassed childhood altogether. Others, however, say she was the daughter ...
The tale of Jason and the Argonauts has been told roughly since the time of Homer. The myth itself comes out of Thessaly where a tradition of Greek Epic Poetry began in about 800 BCE. The tale of Jason and the Argonauts is set one generation before the events of the Trojan War, but is ...
The Odyssey is one of two major classical works by Homer. This extensive epic poem chronicles more than Odysseus’ journey home after the end of the Trojan War. Through is many lines, the Odssey is a tale about a family’s struggle with and against supernatural and natural obstacles. And, central to the motivations in Homer’s ...
The approach of historiography requires an approach through the records that outlast the events that take place, namely the literature, archives, human memory (when applicable), and physical evidence related to those events. In the case of the historical Trojan War we have a well-preserved and translated piece of literature, The Iliad, but the question brought ...
Continuing my series of articles on legends and myths, let’s now take a look at one that Hollywood brought back into focus a couple of years ago. Let’s examine the legend of Troy and its supposed downfall at the hands of a Trojan Horse. Most children, at some point in their lifetime, become enthralled with ...
Odysseus, the mythical king of the island Ithaca , is the basic hero in the epic poem of Homer, Odyssey, and he also plays a decisive role in the other epic of Homer, Heliad. He is widely known for his smartness and inventiveness, and famous for the ten years he spent to return home after ...
After reading the Trojan War as depicted in the Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer, I was curious to see how the blockbuster movie Troy compared to the original story. While the movie itself was a fine example and didn’t stray too far from the original texts, as best as any movie could, it still ...
There are many characteristics present in Homer’s “The Odyssey” that clearly define the poem as an epic. The basic definition of an epic is that of a very lengthy poem that has an elevated style with a heroic figure present who faces many challenges during the course of the story. In “The Odyssey,” these characteristics ...