[lit-ideas] Re: Two poems, two approaches, for Friday
- From: Robert Paul <robert.paul@xxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 13 May 2006 21:33:01 -0700
I heard an interview recently which corroborated what I had read quite
some time ago about the concept of 'honor'. 'Honor' is an outgrowth of
a Romantic notion derived primarily from Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe
fiction that Southern white slave holders, particularly in South
Carolina, used as a basis for retaliating perceived slights from each
other
I think you'll find it goes back quite a bit further than that. 'Honor'
timé) is what drives the plot of the Iliad, whose characters' actions
would be unintelligible without at least a rough understanding of it.
Plot outlines of the Iliad are thick on the ground but here's a bit
about honor from
http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/classics/dunkle/studyguide/homer.htm
The code which governs the conduct of the Homeric heroes is a simple
one. The aim of every hero is to achieve honor, that is, the esteem
received from one's peers. Honor is essential to the Homeric heroes, so
much so that life would be meaningless without it. Thus, honor is more
important than life itself. As you will notice in reading the Iliad,
when a hero is advised to be careful to avoid a life-threatening
situation in battle, his only choice is to ignore this warning. A hero's
honor is determined primarily by his courage and physical abilities and
to a lesser degree by his social status and possessions. The highest
honor can only be won in battle. Here competition was fiercest and the
stakes were the greatest. Two other heroic activities, hunting and
athletics, could only win the hero an inferior honor. An even lesser
honor was won by the sole non-physical heroic activity, the giving of
advice in council (1.490; 9.443). Nestor, who is too old to fight, makes
a specialty of giving advice since that is the only heroic activity left
to him (1.254-284).
----------
Robert Paul
Reed College
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
