Archives For November 30, 1999
- It is extra-literary.
- The pleasure of myth depends hardly at all on such usual narrative attractions as suspense and surprise.
- Human sympathy is at a minimum. We do not project ourselves strongly into the characters. We feel indeed that the pattern of their movements has a profound relevance to our own life, but we do not imaginatively transport ourselves into theirs.
- Myth is always in one sense of the word “fantastic.” It deals with the impossibles and preternaturals.
- The experience may be sad or joyful but it is always grave. Comic myth is impossible.
- The experience is not only grave but awe-inspiring. Its as if something of great moment had been communicated to us.
The Epic of Gilgamesh (Mesopotamia) – author unknown
Iliad (Greece) – ascribed to Homer
Odyssey (Greece) – ascribed to Homer
Aeneid (Rome) – Virgil
Metamorphoses (Rome) – Ovid
Beowulf (Britain) – author unknown
Both Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained (Britain) – John Milton
Of course there are loads of more amazing epic poems and stories to read, but these are for me some that are must reads. Enjoy.
Acerbity [əˈsɜːbɪtɪ] 