Honor:
Heroic Epic:
The Iliad
The Iliad is the first epic poem and sets the stage for future epics. It was initially intended to be sung, not read. It is written in dactylic hexameter and there is much repetition. It is an oral heroic epic and as such is reflection of the society to which it was sung. The Motivation of main character is Honor
.Honor:
- Main motivation behind action
- A basic tenet of Homeric society
- Frequently mentioned as a primary basis for making decisions (i 138-139, xxiv 61-80)
- Extends beyond the current life
- Related to acquisition of booty
- It is the lofty purpose for to which the lofty form of epic is dedicated in this case
Love:
- Secondary to honor (Fighting for Patroclus)
- Important as love of honor; this is a war story, not a love story
Battle:
- Means of regaining honor
- Long similes, a hallmark of the Greek epic, abound in battle scenes
- Keeps audience’s interest
- Contemplative effect: contrast between war and peace-contributes to loftiness of work
Virgilian Epic:
The Aeneid
The Aeneid, written by Virgil, is a Roman, literary epic. It relays Virgil’s assessment of Roman values as it tells the story of the origins of Rome. It is a heroic epic with the major motivation of the main character being to fulfill his destiny.
Honor:
- Nationalism and imperialism were the honorable ideals in Virgil’s time and thus his epic had to incorporate those ideals
- Aeneas does not strive for honor, but rather to fulfill his destiny- establishing his nation
Love:
Example- Dido
- As a motivation towards impious action as well as a hindrance
- Giving in to love is giving in to furor, madness, and neglecting pietas, responsibility towards gods and men
Battle:
- Arouses general sympathy for humanity
- Maintains elevated style by keeping description of wounds simple (not like the almost medical detail provided in Homer)
- Wounds are made interesting by ethos- almost like Dante’s contrapasso
- Keeps God as a motivation for action in order to reflect what he believed to be truth rather than maintain loftiness through the theme of man’s accomplishments in epic
- War is not glorified for itself and honor, but rather is secondary to the overall theme of establishing Rome.
Romantic Epic:
Lancelot
Lancelot, or The Knight of the Cart, is a French medieval epic written by Chrétien De Troyes in the 1100’s. It is a romantic tale of chivalry. Although honor is a major theme in the story, Love is the motivating force behind the action of the main character.
Honor:
- While love spurs him on towards actions that would win him honor, by keeping Lancelot’s identity unrevealed until later in the story, Chrétien intimates that honor is secondary to love, because honor cannot be bestowed on or claimed by someone with no identity,
- Hesitation to sacrifice honor for love is condemned (Queen’s Anger)
Love:
- Motivation for main action
- Courtly love in Chrétien’s time can be " regarded as an idealistic revolt against a social system where marriages were contracted…for political and economic reasons"
- On the surface is held as the highest ideal
- Chrétien’s other writings uphold the institution of marriage while this one almost nullifies it
- The ridiculous extent to which Lancelot sacrifices for the love of his maiden indicates a certain disapproval by Chrétien of the behavior about which he is writing
- Zeal for love itself is often paralleled to zeal for faith
Battle:
- Serves as a means of portraying excellence
- Subservient to Love (Queen dictates how Lancelot should fight)
Dante's Epic:
The Divine Comedy
The Divine Comedy is a different kind of epic. It does not contain the typical heroic struggle involving swords and armies, but rather it deals with the spiritual struggle of man. In his epic, Dante interweaves everything relevant in his time from politics to the church to ideas of love into one grand tapestry.
Honor
- Severity of sin was assessed on a social, not personal standard (Traitors in pit of Hell)
Love:
- Dante is most sympathetic to shades whose sins have to do with love (Paolo and Francesca)
- Separates from classical ideas in that love is chivalrous, not merely physical (quintessentially medieval idea)
- Adoration of Beatrice is Chivalrous in nature
- "Spiritual union between soul and beloved object"
- His travels towards God (in a literal sense) are a reflection of the idea that the soul’s natural tendency is to return to God who created it- thus God is a beloved object and this explains why loves gone "awry" hold souls back from reaching paradise
Battle:
- Warfare is spiritual
- Struggle as a result of mistaking lesser goods for the Supreme good