Sir Gawain and the Classical Tradition: Essays on the Ancient AntecedentsE.L. Risden The 14th century English alliterative poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is admired for its morally complex plot and brilliant poetics. A chivalric romance placed in an Arthurian setting, it has since received acclaim for its commentary regarding important socio-political and religious concerns. The poem's technical brilliance blends psychological depth and vivid language to produce an effect widely considered superior to any other work of the time. Although the poem is a combination of English alliterative meter, romanticism, and a wide-ranging knowledge of Celtic lore, continental materials and Latin classics, the extent to which Classical antecedents affected or directed the poem is a point of continued controversy among literary scholars. This collection of essays by scholars of diverse interests addresses this puzzling and fascinating question. The introduction provides an expansive background for the topic, and subsequent essays explore the extent to which classical Greek, Roman, Arabic, Christian and Celtic influences are revealed in the poem's opening and closing allusions, themes, and composition. Essays discuss the way in which the anonymous author of Sir Gawain employs figural echoes of classical materials, cultural memoirs of past British tradition, and romantic re-textualizations of Trojan and British literature. It is argued that Sir Gawain may be understood as an Aeneas, Achilles, or Odysseus figure, while the British situation in the 14th century may be understood as analogous to that of ancient Troy. |
From inside the book
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... Middle Ages and which have survived to this day, a testament to their popularity in their own day. By comparison, the poems penned by the Gawain poet most likely did not enjoy the same widespread popularity in Fourteenth- and Fifteenth ...
... medieval historian and poet, both of whom recast the past at the same time as they remember it. Texts about the matter of ... Middle Ages. Storytellers like Odysseus, Aeneas, Geo›rey, and the Gawain poet are quite capable of omission ...
... Medieval Romance” makes a strong argument for situating the poet's attitude toward magic, both spiritual and secular ... Middle Ages. From ancient times human beings have believed in magic, and it is with magic that human beings attempt ...
... Medieval Association of Mid- America in Manhattan, KS. Salter, Elizabeth. “The Alliterative Revival I.” Modern ... Middle Ages: An Anthology. Washington, D.C.: Catholic U of America P, ¡989. Geo›rey of Monmouth and the Gawain Poet ...
... Middle Ages, the Homeric corpus was known only by reputation. Though Dante, for instance, places Homer as “poeta ... medieval authors primarily knew Troy as filtered through Rome, that is, classical Latin literature. Briefly turning to ...
Contents
1 | |
The Trojan Framework of Sir Gawain and | 49 |
Ritual Sacrifice and the PreChristian Subtext of Gawains | 65 |
Aeneas Gawain | 82 |
The Tresounous Tulk in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight | 112 |
Classical AnaloguesEastern and Westernof Sir Gawain | 135 |
Classical Magic and Its Function | 182 |
About the Contributors | 211 |