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Aristeia
An aristeia or aristia (; grc, ἀριστεία , ''"excellence"'') is a scene in the dramatic conventions of epic poetry as in the ''Iliad'', where a hero in battle has his finest moments (''aristos'' = "best"). ''Aristeia'' may result in the death of the hero, and therefore suggests a "battle in which he reaches his peak as a fighter and hero". Historical background In the pre-hoplite phase of Greek military evolution, the well-armed aristocrat was the major focus of military action, placed at the apex of his less well-armed dependants. This was reflected in the Homeric division between nobility and commoners, and in the regular epic struggles over the armour of the former, once fallen in their aristeia. Classical hoplite armies, though very different, nevertheless still awarded prizes (aristeia) for individual excellence in action. Epic examples Literally, "moment of excellence", ''aristeiai'' often coincide with battleground slaughter, and feature one warrior who dominates t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diomedes
Diomedes (Jones, Daniel; Roach, Peter, James Hartman and Jane Setter, eds. ''Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary''. 17th edition. Cambridge UP, 2006.) or Diomede (; grc-gre, Διομήδης, Diomēdēs, "god-like cunning" or "advised by Zeus") is a hero in Greek mythology, known for his participation in the Trojan War. He was born to Tydeus and Deipyle and later became King of Argos, Peloponnese, Argos, succeeding his maternal grandfather, Adrastus. In Homer's ''Iliad'' Diomedes is regarded alongside Ajax the Great and Agamemnon, after Achilles, as one of the best warriors of all the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans in prowess (which is especially made clear in Book 7 of the ''Iliad'' when Ajax the Greater, Diomedes, and Agamemnon are the most wished for by the Achaeans to fight Hector out of nine volunteers, who included Odysseus and Ajax the Lesser). Subsequently, Diomedes founded ten or more Italian cities and, after his death, was worshipped as a divine being under various ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and contains 15,693 lines in its most widely accepted version, and was written in dactylic hexameter. Set towards the end of the Trojan War, a ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Mycenaean Greek states, the poem depicts significant events in the siege's final weeks. In particular, it depicts a fierce quarrel between King Agamemnon and a celebrated warrior, Achilles. It is a central part of the Epic Cycle. The ''Iliad'' is often regarded as the first substantial piece of European literature. The ''Iliad'', and the ''Odyssey'', were likely written down in Homeric Greek, a literary amalgam of Ionic Greek and other dialects, probably around the late 8th or early 7th century BC. Homer's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polyphemus
Polyphemus (; grc-gre, Πολύφημος, Polyphēmos, ; la, Polyphēmus ) is the one-eyed giant son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclopes described in Homer's ''Odyssey''. His name means "abounding in songs and legends". Polyphemus first appeared as a savage man-eating giant in the ninth book of the ''Odyssey''. The satyr play of Euripides is dependent on this episode apart from one detail; Polyphemus is made a pederast in the play. Later Classical writers presented him in their poems as heterosexual and linked his name with the nymph Galatea. Often he was portrayed as unsuccessful in these, and as unaware of his disproportionate size and musical failings. In the work of even later authors, however, he is presented as both a successful lover and skilled musician. From the Renaissance on, art and literature reflect all of these interpretations of the giant. Odysseus and Polyphemus Ancient sources In Homer's epic, Odysseus lands on the island of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arete (excellence)
''Arete'' (Greek: ) is a concept in ancient Greek thought that, in its most basic sense, refers to 'excellence' of any kind Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. ''A Greek–English Lexicon'', 9th ed. (Oxford, 1940), s.v.br>—especially a person or thing's "full realization of potential or inherent function." The term may also refer to excellence in " moral virtue." The concept was also occasionally personified as a minor goddess, Arete (not to be confused with the mythological Queen Arete), who, together with sister Homonoia, formed the ''Praxidikai'' ('Exacters of Justice'). In its earliest appearance in Greek, this general notion of excellence was ultimately bound up with the notion of the fulfillment of purpose or function: the act of living up to one's full potential. A person of arete is of the highest effectiveness; they use all of their faculties—strength, bravery, and wit—to achieve real results. In the Homeric world, arete involves all of the abilities and potentialities ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
300 (film)
''300'' is a 2006 American epic historical action film based on the 1998 comic series of the same name by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley. Both are fictionalized retellings of the Battle of Thermopylae in the Greco-Persian Wars. The film was co-written and directed by Zack Snyder, while Miller served as executive producer and consultant. It was filmed mostly with a superimposition chroma key technique to replicate the imagery of the original comic book. The plot revolves around King Leonidas ( Gerard Butler), who leads 300 Spartans into battle against the Persian "God-King" Xerxes ( Rodrigo Santoro) and his big ''and'' good army of more than 300,000 soldiers. As the battle rages, Queen Gorgo ( Lena Headey) attempts to rally support in Sparta for her husband. The story is framed by a voice-over narrative by the Spartan soldier Dilios (David Wenham). Through this narrative technique, various fantastical creatures are introduced, placing ''300'' within the genre of histo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abdiel
Abdiel ( he, עֲבְדִּיאֵל "Servant of El") is a biblical name which has been used as the name for a number of several notable people. The name has the same meaning as Obadiah and is cognate with the Arabic name Abdullah. Abdiel is mentioned a single time in the Bible, in 1 Chronicles 5:15: " Ahi the son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, chief of the house of their fathers." People Notable people with the name include: * Abdiel Arroyo (born 1993), Panamanian footballer * Abdiel Ayarza (born 1992), Panamanian footballer * Abdiel Colberg (born 1957), Puerto Rican film director and television producer * Abdiel Crossman (1804–1859), mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, from 1846–1854 * Abdiel Vázquez (born 1984), Mexican pianist * Abdiel Villa (born 1983), Mexican footballer * Aperel (fl. c. 1350s BCE), ancient Egyptian courtier and administrator Fictional characters Paradise Lost Chief among fictional characters bearing the name Abdiel is the seraph Abdiel appearing in Milto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paradise Lost
''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse (poetry), verse. A second edition followed in 1674, arranged into twelve books (in the manner of Virgil's ''Aeneid'') with minor revisions throughout. It is considered to be Milton's masterpiece, and it helped solidify his reputation as one of the greatest English poets of all time. The poem concerns the The Bible, biblical story of the Fall of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Composition In his introduction to the Penguin Books, Penguin edition of ''Paradise Lost'', the Milton scholar John Leonard notes, "John Milton was nearly sixty when he published ''Paradise Lost'' in 1667. The biographer John Aubrey (1626–1697) tells us that the poem was begun in about 1658 and finished in about 1663. However, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Camilla (mythology)
In Virgil's ''Aeneid'', Camilla of the Volsci is the daughter of King Metabus and Casmilla. Driven from his throne, Metabus is chased into the wilderness by armed Volsci, his infant daughter in his hands. The river Amasenus blocked his path, and, fearing for the child's welfare, Metabus bound her to a spear. He promised Diana that Camilla would be her servant, a warrior virgin. He then safely threw her to the other side, and swam across to retrieve her. The baby Camilla was suckled by a mare, and once her "first firm steps had eentaken, the small palms were armed with a keen javelin; her sire a bow and quiver from her shoulder slung." She was raised in her childhood to be a huntress and kept the companionship of her father and the shepherds in the hills and woods. Modern scholars are unsure if Camilla was entirely an original invention of Virgil, or represents some actual Roman myth. In his book ''Virgil's Aeneid: Semantic Relations and Proper Names'', Michael Paschalis s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simile
A simile () is a figure of speech that directly ''compares'' two things. Similes differ from other metaphors by highlighting the similarities between two things using comparison words such as "like", "as", "so", or "than", while other metaphors create an implicit comparison (i.e. saying something "''is''" something else). This distinction is evident in the etymology of the words: simile derives from the Latin word ''similis'' ("similar, like"), while metaphor derives from the Greek word ''metapherein'' ("to transfer"). Like in the case of metaphors, the thing that is being compared is called the tenor, and the thing it is being compared to is called the vehicle. Author and lexicographer Frank J. Wilstach compiled a dictionary of similes in 1916, with a second edition in 1924. Uses In literature * "O My like a red, red rose." "A Red, Red Rose," by Robert Burns. * John Milton, ''Paradise Lost'', a Homeric simile:::As when a prowling Wolf, ::Whom hunger drives to seek new haun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turnus
Turnus ( grc, Τυρρηνός, Tyrrhênós) was the legendary King of the Rutuli in Roman history, and the chief antagonist of the hero Aeneas in Virgil's ''Aeneid''. According to the ''Aeneid'', Turnus is the son of Daunus and the nymph Venilia and is brother of the nymph Juturna. Historical tradition While there is a limited amount of information in historical sources about Turnus, some key details about Turnus and the Rutuli differ significantly from the account in the Aeneid. The only source predating the Aeneid is Marcus Portius Cato's Origines. Turnus is also mentioned by Livy in his ''Ab Urbe Condita'' and by Dionysius of Halicarnassus in his (''Rômaïkê Archaiologia'', "''Roman Antiquities''"), both of which come later than the ''Aeneid''. Turnus is mentioned in the Book of Jasher, along with Angeas of Africa. In all of these historical sources, Turnus' heritage is unclear. Dionysius calls him ''Tyrrhenus'', which means "Etruscan", while other sources suggest a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mezentius
In Roman mythology, Mezentius was an Etruscan king, and father of Lausus. Sent into exile because of his cruelty, he moved to Latium. He reveled in bloodshed and was overwhelmingly savage on the battlefield, but more significantly to a Roman audience he was a ''contemptor divum'', a "despiser of the gods." He appears in Virgil's ''Aeneid'', primarily book ten, where he aids Turnus in a war against Aeneas and the Trojans. While in battle with Aeneas, he is critically injured by a spear blow, but his son Lausus bravely blocks Aeneas's final blow. Lausus is then killed by Aeneas, and Mezentius is able to escape death for a short while. Once he hears of Lausus' death, he feels ashamed that his son died in his place and returns to battle on his horse Rhaebus in order to avenge him. He is able to keep Aeneas on the defensive for some time by riding around Aeneas and loosing javelins. Eventually, Aeneas kills the horse with a spear and pins Mezentius underneath. He is overcome by Aeneas, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nisus And Euryalus
In Greek and Roman mythology, Nisus ( grc, Νῖσος, Nîsos) and Euryalus (; grc, Εὐρύαλος, Eurýalos, broad) are a pair of friends and lovers serving under Aeneas in the ''Aeneid'', the Augustan epic by Virgil. Their foray among the enemy, narrated in book nine, demonstrates their stealth and prowess as warriors, but ends as a tragedy: the loot Euryalus acquires (a glistening Rutulian helmet) attracts attention, and the two die together. Virgil presents their deaths as a loss of admirable loyalty and valor. They also appear in Book 5, during the funeral games of Anchises, where Virgil takes note of their ''amor pius'', a love that exhibits the ''pietas'' that is Aeneas's own distinguishing virtue. In describing the bonds of devotion between the two men, Virgil draws on conventions of erotic poetry that have suggested a romantic relationship to some, interpreted by scholars in light of the Greek custom of ''paiderastia''. Mythology Background Nisus and Euryalu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
