Arthurian stories refer to the legends and myths surrounding King Arthur, a legendary British king who, according to medieval tales, led the defense of Britain against Saxon invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. In reality, Authur was only a warrior chief. He is wounded and goes to the island of Avalon until his death, which people believe is the torr submerged underwater. In 1191 monks at the abbey say they have found a cross with Arthur and his wife Guinevere’s bone, but in 1534 King Henry VIII breaks England from the church and destroys all monasteries including Glastonbury so any evidence there may have been was demolished. In Gates's research into Glastonbury narratives, there are areas where his presentation could benefit from greater clarity.
When he is about to become king, it says, “...they kneeled at once, both rich and poor, and cried Arthur mercy because they had delayed him so long, and Arthur forgave them...” (Malory, Book I, Chapter VII) They tried to delay him being made king because they did not believe that he was the rightful king. But he forgave them. He was also a great leader, and a great warrior, too.
The audience feels a sense of relief for King Arthur because although he possess an adequate amount of skills and knowledge to sever the head of the green knight, he is not the one who has accepted the challenge of slaying the green knight. Conversely, he is the one who encourages Sir Gawain to sever the head of the green
Thesis statement: Richard Ist did not completely follow the model of “roi-chevalier” established by his legend, he lacked few knightly characteristics and cannot be considered as an excellent king, especially from a political, financial and ideological stand point. Evidence 1: “King Richard had the valour of Hector, th heroism of Achilles; he was not inferior to Alexander, nor less valiant than Roland. No, he easily surpassed in many respects the most praise-worthy figures of our times […] his skill and experience in action equalled his desire for it; his desire did not betray a lack of skill or experience”1 “He was tall, of elegant built; the colour of his hair was between red and gold; his limbs were supple and straight. He had quite long arms, which were particularly convenient for drawing a sword and wielding it most effectively. His long legs matched the arrangement of his whole body.
“Then Arthur as a lion, ran unto King Cradelment of North Wales, and smote him through the left side, that the horse and the king fell down; and then he took the horse by the rein, and led him unto Ulfius, and said, Have this horse, mine old friend, for great need hast thou of horse. ”(Le Morte D’Arthur,
Throughout history, every work of fiction that has been constructed has contained a hero that reflected the cultural values of the time. Whether it be Shakespeare or J. R. R. Tolkien, the hero of the tale has not only epitomized these values, but served as a paradigm for heroes in other works of fiction. Beowulf and Sir Gawain exemplify the cultural values of the Anglo-Saxons and the Middle English. Some of these values, such as honor and valor, are reflected throughout the evolution of the Early to Late Middle Ages, although some are replaced, and there is a slight paradigm shift with regard to the nature of the two heroes; this can be clearly viewed when one analyzes the archetypes in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in terms
The narrative embroidery that tells of the Norman invasion of England refers to scenes and individuals but gives little more information than the images. Many wonder if the inscriptions were an afterthought- a theory that could well be supported by the awkward placement, careless squeezing and inconsistent abbreviations. Where space was needed, as in the height of the Battle of Hastings, the inscriptions were disposed of altogether. The soldiers, animals and weapons take up most of the space and actually break the register at times. Undoubtedly, the inscriptions would have been a source of surprising flattery for anyone who could identify himself on the tapestry, praising the elite pictured.
Arthur is wanting to follow these rules and keeps it has his motivate to live by. He want to keep the people first. By Arthur living by this it can be seen that he is willing to make many sacrifices for the people and so that he could be a great king. This can connect to the hero’s journey archetype since he is just beginning to realize that his life is going to change and it not going to be what he’s used to when he becomes a king. Another example, Arthur rushes to save Guinevere and putting his life last and putting her life in front of her, "Thank you.
When the Green Knight arrived and challenged King Arthur, Gawain was more than willing to take his lord’s place. In their article “Medieval Romance” the English department
The text focuses heavily on the extravagant descriptions of Arthur’s castle, in effect pushing a knight further from his moral obligations of the chivalric code. The text describes Arthur’s court in great detail. It describes the activities of the lords and ladies (Sir Gawain and
Is Antigone a True Depiction of Greek Tragedy? It is only in the Greek tragedy Antigone, written by Sophocles, where the citizen of Thebes that rebelled against the law is the soon to be daughter-in-law of the king. All actions have consequences, which is one thing Sophocle taught the audience. In Antigone’s case, her action lead to a chain of deaths, including hers, and the lifelong suffering of her sister and uncle.
Overall, these elements all aid in emphasizing the vast ‘superiority’ of the Normans. Firstly, when examining their respective feasts the Anglo-Saxons are depicted as immoral while the Normans are depicted as righteous. In the feast Harold and his men are pictured drinking, two of which with drinking horns. These drinking horns were “often shown in the hands of morally weak or evil characters and had become symbols of vanity and sin”.
Greek mythology can be viewed as a mirror to the ancient Greek civilization. Ancient Greek myths and legends often reflected how the Greeks saw themselves. Myths were used by Greeks to make justifications of every existing aspect of earth as well as their own society. In myths, Greek gods & heroes often represented key aspects of the human civilization. From Greek mythology, we can learn about the favorable characteristics of humans, such as their behavior and valuable skills that were approved of by the ancient Greek society.
Thus, in Merlin, we see a rebirth of the old, dead Celtic culture. Cohen argues in his third monster thesis that “Because of it ontological liminality, the monster notoriously appears at a time of crisis.” Considering Geoffrey was born in 1100, a mere thirty-four years after the Norman Conquest, it does not seem far-fetched to point to the imposition of a new regime as such a crisis. Further, it should also be noted that the Norman Conquest took place concurrently alongside the “creative surge” subbed the renaissance of the twelfth-century. Perhaps these two factors threatened to sweep away the culture of Celtic tradition – leading Geoffrey to revive Celtic tradition through Merlin.
The Iliad by Homer, the Odyssey poem written by Homer and the Prometheus mythology are classical texts that reflect the historical and cultural background of the Greek and Roman literary skills. The Odyssey and the Iliad are Homer’s epic poems that portray Greek and Western culture. The three texts give an insight of the ancient Roman myths, culture and the literature during both the 17th and 18th century. The two texts by Homer and the Prometheus mythology represent a classical period that consisted of the cultural history and the civilization of the Romans and Greece hence known as the Greece-Roman World. Homer’s narratives, the “Iliad” and the “Odyssey”, and Aeschylus mythical story “Prometheus” have cultural and mythological similarities
