Somewhere I Have Never Travelled: The Second Self and the Hero's Journey in Ancient EpicExploring the hero's journey as a metaphor for spiritual evolution in The Epic of Gilgamesh, Homer's Iliad, and Virgil's Aeneid, and focusing in particular on the relationship of the hero to one or more "second selves," or alter egos, Van Nortwick demonstrates how the poems address central and enduring truths about human life: that the exertion of heroic will in pursuit of glory can lead to alienation from one's own deepest self and that spiritual wholeness can only be achieved through confrontation with what appears at first to be the very negation of the self. Though addressing issues of interest to classical scholars the book offers an interpretation of the poems which is accessible to students and to others interested in how imaginative constructs reflect life. Because the hero's journey forms the backbone of each poem, the discussion also serves as an introduction to the central themes and historical evolution of ancient epic. An extensive annotated list of sources suggests avenues for further exploration of the ideas raised in the book, and a bibliographical essay aimed at scholars discusses relationship of the book's argument to previous scholarship on the poems. |
From inside the book
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Page 29
... reach Utnap- ishtim , and he needs guidance . Siduri has often been compared to Circe in the Odyssey , who gives Odysseus advice on how to reach the under- world and talk to the sage , Teiresias . The comparison is apt , and would be ...
... reach Utnap- ishtim , and he needs guidance . Siduri has often been compared to Circe in the Odyssey , who gives Odysseus advice on how to reach the under- world and talk to the sage , Teiresias . The comparison is apt , and would be ...
Page 47
... reach a new level of understanding by making contact with his father , Peleus . All of this suggests a telling complex of associations embedded in the relationship of Achilles and Thetis , and implies from our perspective a ...
... reach a new level of understanding by making contact with his father , Peleus . All of this suggests a telling complex of associations embedded in the relationship of Achilles and Thetis , and implies from our perspective a ...
Page 176
... reach his foe , no chariot And no sign of the charioteer , his sister . At a dead loss he stood . Aeneid 12. 908-918 This moment draws on two Homeric precedents , Athena tricking Hector into thinking she will aid him and then deserting ...
... reach his foe , no chariot And no sign of the charioteer , his sister . At a dead loss he stood . Aeneid 12. 908-918 This moment draws on two Homeric precedents , Athena tricking Hector into thinking she will aid him and then deserting ...
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Common terms and phrases
accept Achaians Achates Achilles and Patroclus Achilleus Aeneas Aeneid Aeneid 12 Agamemnon Anchises anger appears Ascanius battle beginning bring Briseis Camilla Carthage comes companion context corpse culture dark dead denial destiny Dido Dido's divine drive Enkidu Enkidu's death Epic of Gilgamesh episode Euryalus fate father fight finally further Gilgamesh epic give goddess gods Greek grief grieving heart Hector hero story hero's heroic heroism Homer human Humbaba Iliad 11 Iliad 22 Ishtar issues journey Juno Juno's Jupiter katabasis killing kind king Latinus Latium literature look male metaphor mission mortals mother nature Ninsun Nisus Odysseus Pallas particular Patroklos Peleus perspective poem Priam qualities reintegration relationship role Roman Rome scene second-self motif seems sense sexual ships Sibyl simile spiritual suggests tell Thetis things tion traditional Trojans Troy turn Turnus underworld Uruk Utnapishtim Venus Virgil wild Zeus