Textbook Notes: Epics and the History of English (pg. 64-82)

The Epic

• long narrative poems that celebrated the adventures of legendary heroes
• Heroes: role models of their times, represented the society's ideal values
• provided examples of how to behave properly in a variety of circumstances

Gilgamesh

• Gilgamesh prologue establishes the heroic (or even legendary) history of Gilgamesh and his accomplishments
• the excerpt from the Iliad is very characteristic of an epic
• heroic characters clashing in a realistic scenario, but with the supernatural involvement of the gods
• About Sumerian king who lived between 2700-2500 B.C.
• stories of Gilgamesh handed down by Sumerians for hundreds of years after his death
• pg 66 "two-thirds a god, one-third a man"
• emphasizes building the city of Uruk

The Iliad

• during Trojan war, fought over Helen of Troy
• Achilleus (greatest Greek warrior) vs Hektor (best Trojan warrior)
• Hektor killed Achilleus' friend Patroklos
• Achaians = Greeks
• Athene is the daughter of Zeus
• the killing of Hektor is surprisingly brutal; socially justifiable by the killing of Patroklos, perhaps?
• pg 69 "I entreat you, by your life, by your knees, by your parents..."
• why "knees"?

A History of the English Church and People

• Bede (673-235): English priest and scholar who hoped to keep his writing accessible to more scholars by writing in Latin
• A History of the English People describes conquest of Britain by Anglo-Saxons post Romans, emphasizes the expansion of Christianity in England
• English, British, Scots, and Picts united in language by Latin
• Britain's original inhabitants: Britons, from Armorica (Brittany, France)
• pg 77 It is interesting how much weather (particularly the longevity of snow) factors into a land's overall quality
• pg 78 "In fact, almost everything in this isle enjoys immunity to poison..."
• I would be interesting in knowing more about the origins of this notion

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

• an effort by a group of monks to piece together the fragmented stories of British history
• excerpt details the threat of a Danish attack
• the English are in a state of disarray, they are fractured
• caused by "the force" (Vikings, Danish settlers in England)
• pg 82 Does the darkening of the moon have some significance?  Same with the comet.  Why are they included in the history?