Abstract This paper will uncover the meaning behind the Exekias' Amphora Vase with Achilles and Ajax presented on its surface painting. The objectives of contour, shape, and other various elements of the vase will be covered to reveal the structural premise of the pottery. The characters on the vase will be discussed as well to give a more comprehensive historical background to the Greek work of art.
Abstract This paper looks at two great poems, written by Homer, "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey", which are considered to be two of the greatest epic poems ever written. The paper also examines the notion that there was more than one author of these poems, and addresses the "Homeric Question," as it has become known. The author examines the poems in detail, and posses several questions as to how they were written, and whether or not they were written, at all. Several commentaries written about these poems are examined in detail, in order to support the notion that perhaps, they were plays, whose details were handed down orally to the people of the time, and the real authors, were the actors and performers themselves.
From the Paper "For example, certain noun-epithet phrases such as "swift-footed Achilles" reoccur with startling frequency throughout the Iliad. (Lord 73) Book Nine begins with a meeting of the Greek camp. As they frequently are, the leaders are addressed by their customary names, referring to their birth. Diomedes, for instance, is "Son of Tydeus" and Agamemnon is the ?son of Atreus.? (Translation of Fitzgerald 205-206) There is no immediate need to refer to the parentage of these characters within the context of the tale. Parry's theory suggests that this is done, not out of any literary attempt to recall that Agamemnon comes from a cursed line, for instance, but rather because it "flows" within the context of the speaker's meter and because it provides a "handle" for the teller to remember the speaker. Diomedes, unlike Agamemnon, comes from a royal but innocuous line yet is no less referred to by this customary reference to his parentage than is his leader. Of course, the two men come from a paternal society that is dependent upon the birth one has inherited by one's father. This may be the reason that such epitaphs became common tropes within the characteristics of oral transmissions of epic poetry. But simply because it is the larger, societal reason for this phenomenon does not mean that it is why these particular phrases are arising in these particular contexts."
From the Paper "The heroes of tragic drama possess a nobility that sets them above the common order of human beings, but this also means that they have farther to fall when their fatal flaw brings them to the brink of disaster. Faced with such an eventuality, the hero has to face what he or she has done. One means taken to assert his or her nobility by taking responsibility in a manner the average person would not, through suicide. This can be seen in different ways in the character of Ajax in the play Ajax by Sophocles and the character of Othello in Othello by William Shakespeare.
Perhaps the most notable character trait in Othello is the one that seems the most anomalous--his trusting nature--and this characteristic also serves to elevate him as a benevolent leader. Such a nature is unusual in a successful field general, someone who ..."
Abstract "The Metamorphoses" by Homer portrays a different side of Odysseus as a character, which is entirely different from the Odysseus that readers were acquainted to in "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" by Homer. While Odysseus is portrayed as a courageous and intelligent warrior in "The Iliad" and ?The Odyssey,? Ajax in "The Metamorphoses" is illustrated as a coward and a brilliant schemer in order to fool the people in believing that he is the rightful heir to the title of Achilles as the great warrior of the Achaean/Greek society. This main difference between Ovid and Homer's works is the focus of this paper.
From the Paper "Ovid, on the other hand, portrays a different and more critical picture of Ulysses (Odysseus) as warrior in the Roman literature. In an article by James Hunter, Odysseus? character is similar to Ovid's portrayal in ?The Metamorphoses,? wherein he is known to be a cunning and treacherous warrior who would rather find ways out of a problematic situation than to fight bravely towards solving the problem (Hunter 2003). In fact, in W. B. Stanford's analysis of Odysseus character in the ?The Ulysses Theme,? he discusses the criticism of Ovid and other Roman literary writers in the portrayal of Odysseus in the ?post-classical tradition.? "
Abstract This paper highlights the main theme of "Iliad" and "Aeneid" and then takes two specific figures from the texts and compares and contrasts them in order to understand differences or similarities in the texts and the concept of differences and similarities in the self and others.
From the Paper "Iliad is about the war between Trojans and Greeks. However, one gets to see the concept of the Greek gods as well as the role of women and the heroism of characters like Achilles, Agamemnon, Ajax and Hector. Iliad is based on a single episode of the Trojan War, which was the withdrawal of Achilles? from the fighting, and returning to kill Hector. The story revolves around the last days of a 10-year war and highlights the relationships between Achilles, Agamemnon etc as well as the Olympian gods. Achilles is the hero of the story."
Abstract This paper compares how each famous epic chronicles the tales of nations, describing both the similarities and the differences. The paper points out that, while the "Aeneid" is fundamentally a positive tale of nation-building, namely, the founding of the city of Rome, the "Iliad" is a tale of nation's imminent destruction, that of Troy, and thus has a far less positive tone towards the theme of war and warfare.
From the Paper "Neither text is anti-war. The theme of a male's need to prove himself in warfare runs through both texts, as Paris is criticized by Homer's Greeks for his chariness about fighting for Helen's hand, and Aeneas is reproached for dallying too long with the Queen of Carthage, the lovely Dido. However, the "Aeneid" focuses mainly on an individual's positive quest to establish the Roman capital, as opposed to the more disparately focused "Iliad" which chronicles the petty squabbling of the Greeks and Trojans, and the futility, ultimately of their aims to end a conflict that neither side really has much desire to win, given it is over a woman no warrior may enjoy-even her rightful husband has lost his drive for Helen. But the more spare, fierce, and elemental poetic diction of the Greek author stresses the futility of war in contrast to the poetic, elevated language and themes of the "Aeneid." The "Aeneid" also combines themes of travel and romance as well as relationships between men and battle, bringing them to the forefront while in the "Iliad," such wrangling over women are only of interest in terms of how they affect the war and create conflict between men."
Abstract This paper discusses Shakespeare's play "Troilus and Cressida" and analyzes how the play that challenges our preconceived notions of masculinity. Specifically, the paper looks at how the men in the play seem to reach their masculinity through effeminate imagery and how the portrayed uselessness of armor displays the unfilled masculine desires of the men. The paper contends that Shakespeare shapes the source of masculinity in a very different version from contemporary society by placing it in the bodies of the other sex.
From the Paper "The meeting of the two camps for the battle of Ajax and Hector is certainly one of the more interesting scenes of Troilus and Cressida. However, the real confrontation is between Achilles and Hector, who meet unarmed for the first time in the play. Achilles draws his worth from the gaze of others, feeling undone when the Greeks do not look upon him, and energy when they do. He must also believe in this power in his own gaze and he desires to look upon his enemy to settle himself. He says, "My mind is troubled like a fountain stirred,/ And I myself see not the bottom of it" (3.3.302-3303), telling readers that if he is unable to look upon his enemy, he is unable to clear up his mental faculties. Perhaps explaining why he is called womanish on several occasions. Patroculus, who lacks a self-proclaimed stomach for war even refers to Achilles as womanish for not arming himself and fighting. Shakespeare is disclosing that an unarmed knight is like an effeminate man. "
