Epic Poems A Historical Context - 1474 Words

Vincent Probst Classical Mythology Professor Barefield Odyssey Final Paper 5/4/2015 Topic #1 Epic poems are being interpreted as immense drawn-out stories which often encompass an emotional plot with a historical context. Epic stories also need to be written on a serious influential subject that requires an overall goal, which the protagonist needs to pursue and accomplish. Granted, while there are many modern epics, The Odyssey composed by Homer in the eighth century B.C, is indisputably one of the most famous and oldest surviving epics. Its plot is centered on Odysseus, warrior king of Ithaca who desperately undertakes an eight-year long journey in an effort to return home to his wife and family. A sequel to Homer’s Iliad, the Odyssey picks up, following the events of the Trojan War and the death of Achilles. Although there is no information about Homer himself, the oral formulaic performance theory suggests that these stories were composed verbally and passed on from generation to generation. In fact, the Odyssey and the Iliad were not written down for another two hundred years and as a result, there is room of debatable speculation on the originality of the text itself. Right from the beginning the reader is made aware about the subject matter of the Odyssey. â€Å"Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns †¦driven time and again off course, once he had plundered the hallowed heights of Troy. Many cities of men he saw and learned their minds, many painsShow MoreRelated Comparison of Odyssey, Divine Comedy, and Paradise Lost Essay1089 Words   |  5 PagesComparison of Odyssey, Divine Comedy, and Paradise Lost      Ã‚   Epics by definition are long narrative poems, that are grand in both theme and style (Webster 417).   They usually involve actions of great glory and are typically centered around historical or legendary events of universal significance.   Most epics deal with the deeds of a single individual, however, it is not uncommon to have more than one main character.   Epics embody several main features including: supernaturalRead MoreA Critical Appraisal of: Beowulf and Gilgamesh Essay examples1640 Words   |  7 Pagescomparisons that can be drawn between the epics of Beowulf and Gilgamesh. Both are historical poems which shape their respected culture and both have major social, cultural, and political impacts on the development of western civilization literature and writing. Before any analysis is made, it is vital that some kind of a foundation be established so that a further, in-depth exploration of the complex nature of both narratives can be accomplished. The epic of Gilgamesh is an important MiddleRead MoreThe Importance Of Dantes Inferno1449 Words   |  6 PagesThroughout Dante’s epic poem, Inferno, history has played an integral part in its storyline. By knowing the history, it is evident that the conflict between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines had an immense impact on the writing and the points made throughout. The issues of the time show themselves through the suggestive undertones and the scenarios Dante experiences. Accordingly, the text remains relevant due to the many lessons that can be learned through the sins of the people at the time relativeRead MoreEssay about Analyzing and Improving Multimodality in the Memory Artifact1498 Words   |  6 PagesThe purpose of my memory artifact is to argue that epic poetry is a form of memory representation used to portray the collective memory of a nation and a civilization. An Epic poem is a long narrative poem that deals with an event significant or important to a culture or nation. I believe my presentation was quite successful since I was able to get my message across and make a connection with the audience. However, my presentation only incorporated the visual and oral components of WOVEN and failedRead MoreThe Epic Of Epic Poems1106 Words   |  5 Pages Epic poems played a significant role in maintaining historical events during the Middle Ages. With very little written records, epic poems were memorized and passed down as an oral communication for generations. Beowulf was an example of this type of story that may have existed for a century before it was documented. Unfortunately, due to this type of record keeping, there is no accurate account of the time frame that Beowulf was created or even by what author. It could be deduced that thisRead Morecritical appreciation1066 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Critical appreciation of a poem is defined as the critical reading of a poem. The meaning of its words, its rhyme, scheme, the speaker, figures of speech, the references to other works (intertextuality), the style of language, the general writing style of the poet ( if mentioned), the genre, the context, the tone of the speaker and such other elements make up the critical reading or appreciation. It does not mean criticising the po em. A critical appreciation helps in a better understanding of theRead MoreThe Faerie Queene Analysis1558 Words   |  7 PagesMutable Times: Spenser’s Views on Change and Protestantism To change or not to change? Spenser suggests both in his epic poem, The Faerie Queene. This question simmers under the surface of this fantastical tale of missions and quests, knights and ladies, love and hate. In this epic poem, Spenser contends that change can be both good and bad, but is inevitably constant. This essay examines how The Faerie Queene, similarly to Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, is an allegory for love of the Protestant faithRead MoreUnderstanding Poetry By Robert Penn Warren And Cleanth Brooks1400 Words   |  6 Pagesfeelings and attitudes in such a context, and not on the actions or ideas as such. Poetry is a response to, and an evaluation of our experience of the objective, bustling world and our ideas about it. â€Å"In the book, ‘A Poetry Handbook,’ written by Mary Oliver and published in 1994, she wrote, Poetry is a river; many voices travel in it; poem after poem moves along in the exciting crests and falls of the river waves. None is timeless; each arrives in a historical context; almost everything, in the endRead MoreAnalysis Of Dante Alighieri s Inferno 1556 Words   |  7 Pagesthis book about and what message does this particular ancient poem aim to explain? This epic poem was written in the fourteenth century and there were a lot of commentary involved in the story itself. Dante’s Inferno is widely seen as one of the greatest epics to ever grace textbooks. The text itself throughout this story speaks much to the concept of life and death and what the afterlife is like according to Dante and this is an epic that the Catholic church to this day denounces to a large degreeRead MoreThe Aeneid A Kind Of Propaganda, Cicero s Second Philippic1351 Words   |  6 P agesBattle of Actium entrains several issues. This essay will discuss Virgil’s Latin epic ‘The Aeneid’, a kind of propaganda, Cicero’s ‘Second Philippic’ a piece written with personal and political intentions in mind, and Plutarch’s Rome in Crisis regarding Antony. One must treat these sources with caution, not least because of the inherent bias present in their writing. It is necessary to take into account the context, type of source and how the author has shaped material for their own personal or political

Essay on Gender in Hawthorne’s Blithedale Romance

Gender in Hawthorne’s Blithedale Romancenbsp; nbsp; The Blithedale Romance, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a story of a twisted utopia. This perfect world is twisted in that the roles of gender have a traditional utopian representation, only with a more contemporary take. Of course, this is interesting because this book was written and published in the 19th century when such ideas were beginning to establish a form for the genre of writing. Hawthorne combines fantasy, philosophy, mystery, gothic, and even [what would be called today] science fiction. This novel illustrates the early break from even fresh ideas. The writing style allows for the genderizing degenderizing affect as well as nature of the self. nbsp;†¦show more content†¦The males within the novel always seemed to be placing their skills and knowledge above the womens own. Characters such as Coverdale and Hollingsworth placed their own thoughts above those of the female characters almost anytime that they could. The women, oddly, seemed to show diverse roles. Subtly, this is a representation of women as more complex than men in general. One of the characters, Zenobia, is probably the most least genderized character of the novel, that is, until the end. Throughout most of the novel, she is seen as very masculine (in comparison to traditional roles that is) yet very feminine at the same time. She has a mystical illusion about her yet seems very sensible in the ways of life. However, by the end of the novel, Hawthorne writes her character to be very manipulative and weak, for she dies of grief. On the other hand, the other female character, Priscilla, seems to hold the same mystical aura about her, yet she is the is t he typical female character. She is feminine in her daily activities; she prances around with a constant smile and seems naive about the world. She is the victim of others doings. The hierarchy of the sexes is blatantly obvious in that it favors the male and holds the male ideals perfectly. nbsp; Nature was a main idea in theShow MoreRelatedThe Whiteness of the Veil: Color and the veil in Hawthorne’s The Minister’s Black Veil and The Blithedale Romance1578 Words   |  6 PagesShadow in Hawthorne’s Fiction† Walter Blair approaches an interpretation of Hawthorne’s work through the author’s manipulation of color and light to produce symbolic meaning. Blair addresses â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil† and notes the repeated emphasis on the blackness of Father Hooper’s veil and the pallor as a reaction to it. â€Å"The design of this tale,† he asserts, â€Å"is one in which repeated patterns of light, then blackness, then whiteness meaningfully occur† (Blair 76). Similarly, Hawthorne’s novel TheRead MoreThe Nathaniel Hawthorne s The Blithedale Romance And The Susanna Cummins The Lamplighter1574 Words   |  7 PagesNathaniel Hawthorne’s The Blithedale Romance and Maria Susanna Cumminsâ€⠄¢ The Lamplighter are vastly different books. While originally published within two years of each other, both authors approached their writing through distinctive practices. Hawthorne failed to show development in the majority of his characters in his romance, while Cummins’ sentimental novel is heavily loaded with positive character growth. After reading The Blithedale Romance and The Lamplighter, one of the main differences notedRead MoreThe New England Renaissance1942 Words   |  8 Pagesof Longfellows earliest poems were published previous to 1830, and some of Whittiers also; but it was really nearer 1840 than 1830 that either obtained general recognition as a poet. Emersons first series of Essays was published in 1841, and Hawthornes Mosses from an Old Manse in 1846. The Scarlet Letter did not appear until 1850. It was, nevertheless, a period of intellectual activity. In Boston and Cambridge, new ideas were stirring the minds of the thinkers, and throughout the New En gland States

Sarnath Free Essays

The Buddha went from Bodhgaya to Sarnath about 5 weeks after his enlightenment. Before Gautama (the Buddha-to-be) attained enlightenment, he gave up his austere penances and his friends, the Pancavaggiya monks, left him and went to Isipatana. [4] After attaining Enlightenment the Buddha, leaving Uruvela, travelled to the Isipatana to Join and teach them. We will write a custom essay sample on Sarnath or any similar topic only for you Order Now He went to them because, using his spiritual powers, he had seen that his five former companions would be able to understand Dharma quickly. While travelling to Sarnath, Gautama Buddha had to cross the Ganges. Having no money with which to pay the ferryman, he crossed the Ganges through the air. When King Bimbis ¤ra heard of this, he abolished the toll for ascetics. When Gautama Buddha found his five former companions, he taught them, they understood and as a result they also became enlightened. At that time the Sangha, the community of the enlightened ones, was founded. The sermon Buddha gave to the five monks was his irst sermon, called the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. It was given on the full-moon day of Asalha PuJa. [5] Buddha subsequently also spent his first rainy season at Sarnath[6] at the Mulagandhakuti. The Sangha had grown to 60 in number (after Yasa and his friends had become monks), and Buddha sent them out in all directions to travel alone and teach the Dharma. All 60 monks were Arahants. Several other incidents connected with the Buddha, besides the preaching of the first sermon, are entioned as having taken place in Isipatana. Here it was that one day at dawn Yasa came to the Buddha and became an Arahant. [7] It was at Isipatana, too, that the rule was passed prohibiting the use of sandals made of talipot leaves. [8] On another occasion when the Buddha was staying at Isipatana, having gone there from R ¤Jagaha, he instituted rules forbidding the use of certain kinds of flesh, including human flesh. [9] Twice, while the Buddha was at Isipatana, M ¤ra visited him but had to go away discomfited. [10] How to cite Sarnath, Papers

An Advancement of Learning and An August Midnight Compare and contrasting free essay sample

The poems â€Å"An Advancement of Learning† and â€Å"An August Midnight† are connected in some way, these poems focus on encounters with certain creatures or animals. Heaney’s with a rat on a river embankment in Belfast and Hardy’s with nocturnal insects that fly through his window. In the poems In contrast they are laid out in different structures. In â€Å"An Advancement of Learning† it has eight stanzas of four short lines. In contrast â€Å"An August Midnight† is made up of two stanzas with six long lines, giving the poem a calm quality. In â€Å"An Advancement of Learning† Heaney recalls on his childhood fear of rats. This is due to his experiences of fear growing up on a farm as a child. The rats provide a link between his childhood and his inner-city life as an adult. â€Å"An August Midnight† is based on Hardy’s beliefs that all animals were conscious beings worthy of respect based on the evolutionary theory that all living things are related. We will write a custom essay sample on An Advancement of Learning and An August Midnight Compare and contrasting or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This interest is also evident in the close up acute details of the insects’ anatomy â€Å"winged, horned and spined†. The settings of both poems are very different or inconsistent. In â€Å"An Advancement of Learning† it is situated outside in an urban river landscape. It is portrayed as polluted with â€Å"dirty-keeled swans†. Overall it is an urban setting and a shabby environment, where it projects the negativity of the encounter. Whereas in â€Å"An August Midnight† it is inside and a welcoming scene inside a tranquil room where the insects are lured in by lamplight and an open window. Both poems contrast, in â€Å"An August Midnight† Hardy isn’t dismissive or scornful towards the insects, he shows them respect. This is shown when Hardy says â€Å"God’s humblest†. However in â€Å"An Advancement of Learning† uses words such as â€Å"slimed† and â€Å"slobbered† to describe the rat’s movements, this portrays Heaney’s dislike or hatred towards rats.