The Return of Greek Mythology, Essay Example

Introduction

It is of course tempting to find Homer’s Iliad and Chaucer’s “The Knight’s Tale” as sharing so many elements, they are essentially different forms of classic Greek storytelling.  Both tales rely on masculine heroes and their interactions based on desire and warfare.  Then, there is the infusion of divine presences and interference in both stories, which is a hallmark of ancient Greek myth carried over into Chaucer’s medieval narrative. Consequently, it is easy to assert that basic heroic ideals are merely translated by Chaucer centuries after Homer.  What a closer examination reveals, however, is that Chaucer actually presents heroic ideals in a different context.  With brotherhood and love as the driving forces, the heroic ideals of the Greeks are changed to chivalric.  As the following will discuss, Chaucer’s “The Knight’s Tale” does return to Greek myth, but only to adapt it into chivalry.

Analysis

To understand the difference in the heroic ideals between The Iliad and “The Knight’s Tale,” it is first necessary to examine the context, or scope, of each work.  First and foremost, The Iliad is an epic in the classic Greek tradition of storytelling.  The characters are dimensional and real, but they exist in an arena “larger than life” in a sense, because the actual history of nations is involved in their interactions between one another and the gods.  Human motivations, desires, and ambitions here tend to be more extreme, as the fates of societies and history are clearly at stake.  Consequently, the heroic ideals are similarly grandiose, just as the heroic lapses are equally monumental.  The tale begins, in fact, on an epic note, as Agamemnon scorns the ransom brought by Chryses for his daughter’s release.  It is the fierce anger of Apollo, killing the Achaens mercilessly in response to Chryses’s prayer, which then prompts the heroism of Achilles.  It is mild heroism; he simply realizes that the people must know the reason for this attack if they are to end and survive it.  Mild or otherwise, however, the ideal is boldly heroic because it goes beyond personal glory.  It is about the life or death of the people.  Conversely, Agamemnon’s response is equally extreme in terms of self-interest; he accepts somewhat that he must relinquish the girl, but he insists upon another of the same quality: “Let the Achaens find me a prize in fair exchange to my liking, or I will come and take your own” (Homer 129).  From the start, then, heroic ideals confront desires less than heroic, but just as powerful.

Reinforcing this quality of the grandiose in Homer’s heroic ideals is the behavior of Patroclus, confronting Achilles with what he views as his shameless refusal to help his people.  Achilles is too outraged to fight and Patroclus begs to at least wear his armor, which will encourage the men and perhaps save the day.  Certainly emphasizing the foundation of Greek heroism is Patroclus’ appeal to Achilles’s pride: “Who in future story will speak well of you unless you now save the Argives from ruin?” (Homer 160).  This interaction, as that between Agamemnon and Achilles earlier, reveals the varying degrees of actual heroism displayed by the men.  Nonetheless, and even when the heroes resist action, there is the pervasive knowledge that nations, and the futures of their own people, hang in the balance.

With “The Knight’s Tale,” and despite similarities of desire and personal ambition of Homer’s and Chaucer’s heroes, ideals reflect different agendas, or even sets of beliefs.  It is interesting to compare the bonds between Achilles and Patroclus, and Palamon and Arcita. Both pairs evince the classic and heroic commitment of men to one another, a kind of devotion unlike any other.  Dying, Patroclus invokes his comrade as avenging hero: “Death and the day of your doom are close upon you, and they will lay you low by the hand of Achilles” (Homer 171).  Similarly, and even as they argue over Emilia, Palamon asserts devotion: “Sworn as we are, and each unto the other,/That never, though for death in any pain, /Never…Either of us in love shall hinder other” (Chaucer 144).  Then, and importantly, the entire context of this heroic relationship differs from those of Homer.  Warfare exists in the background, as the rule of Theseus in Athens condemns the cousins and friends to their imprisonment.  More to the point is that the ideals of the men reflect concerns of chivalry, rather than personal glory in battle of the fates of nations.  The hero here is defined more by degree of virtue and extent of devotion, as the conflict in “The Knight’s Tale” is centered on how two heroes devoted to one another can reconcile this necessary ideal with their love for the same woman.  This is the primal and insoluble issue, as Theseus sums up the deepest agenda of chivalry: “A man must play the fool, when young or old” (Chaucer 756).  Love, in other words, dictates all, and therein lies how “The Knight’s Tale” is not a new telling of heroic ideals or Greek myth, but a different translation of them.

Conclusion

Heroic ideals abound in both The Iliad and “The Knight’s Tale,” but with a crucial difference.  Even as the heroes of each behave in overtly masculine, or warrior-like, form, Homer’s men deal with issues of greatness, and Chaucer’s heroes, soldiers that they are, exist to represent the heroism of brotherly devotion and limitless love for a woman.  Consequently, Chaucer’s “The Knight’s Tale” does return to Greek myth, but only to adapt it into chivalry.

Works Cited

Stielow, Fred, Ed.  World Literature Anthology: Through the Renaissance, Vols. I, III.  Charles Town: American Public University Electronic Press, 2011.  Web.      <www.apus.edu>