Medieval vs Ancient Literature.

How did religion or heroism in the works of Medieval literature differ from the treatments of these themes in Ancient literature?

What exactly is ancient literature to you. You need to define that better.
We have myths and legends from ancient Greece that told of heroic measures being taken by mankind. It seems that heroism has always been revered as a noble trait.
Not really sure what you're looking for here though.

reply to post by RobFox


As the previous poster pointed out this is a ridiculously broad question. You really need to define what you mean by both Medieval and Ancient, and what part(s) of the world you're talking about.

Let me try to extrapolate...

It seems you are trying to find the difference between the two, which in my mind boils down to this:

Ancient lit deals with heroism as a divine gift from the deity/deities of the region (ie Greek, Roman, Mesopotamian, etc)

Medieval lit is the dame thing, but it is influenced by Christianity/Islam (with few exceptions like the vikings)

FFS, stop posting all of your college questions here. And why do you study literature when you clearly have no interest in reading the stuff, or indeed researching it.

And you know that thing you are sitting in front of? You could do research on it and actually learn things. And......

Go

Read

Some

Books.

Cos you'll learn jack this way.

ETA: i'm including an almost-apology for my snarkiness... i read that you are in a class on your own so i can excuse your repeated literature questions. However you are not discussing these topics with us which is what you previously said you wanted to do and therefore you still deserve my annoyance, especially as i made the effort to provide a decent reply in a previous thread of yours that could have lead to a cool discussion
There are plenty here that would discuss this stuff with you if you actually made the effort to participate in the threads you made, rather than posting and running.

So what ancient or medieval literature have you read, or are considering reading in relation to this?

For instance what is the difference of the epic hero and template in Gilgamesh or Beowulf and say the Song of Roland or even Dante's "The Divine Comedy"? Where is religion factored into the storytelling?

reply to post by RobFox

What impressions did you gain yourself from your own reading of Beowulf and Dante?
I have read both.
Once you've given your own opinion, we can compare notes.

reply to post by RobFox


Gilgamesh, Roland and Beowulf are pretty quick reads, y'unno..... The Divine Comedy less so. You could certainly have read two of those first three in the time between posting your OP and replying to my post, but it seems that you have not.

Make a little effort, please.

So......why are you studying literature? The joy lies in reading and engaging with the story, not in reading someone else's precy or interpretation.

You do realise we ain't doing your work for you, yeah?