The reception of homer’s iliad: a thematic analysis on romanticism of war
| dc.contributor.author | Opatha, O.K.S.M | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-11-27T07:02:09Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-11-27T07:02:09Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2018-04-03 | |
| dc.description.abstract | The Human civilization has often evolved through warfare. “Survival of the fittest” is one such idea that could signify on the core biological need of human beings for war. This urge of war is repeatedly justified with concepts such as bravery, heroism and patriotism. Concepts which are associated with romanticism, are found in Homer’s Iliad, one of the earliest composed works on a war, thus presenting a romanticized version of warfare to its audience. Now, in the modern world, this trend of romanticizing war, which was established by Homer through Iliad, is used as a tool by many hegemonic powers to justify their wars. Homer’s use of characters and their characterizations have established a prototype on the presentation of Heroes. Similarly, the battle scenes and the use of action in Iliad also present themselves as stereotypes in works concerning war. When these aspects of Iliad are compared with movies such as “Saving Private Ryan”, “Lord of the Rings trilogy” and even Television series such as “Game of Thrones” one can see that they shadow a similar form and characterization that was introduced by Homer. Interestingly these movies and other representations on conflict can alter the perception that the common audience has on warfare. They often conceal the brutality of war and offer a romanticized version of conflict, thus feeding the biological urge of Humans for battle. This study aims to identify the way in which Homer’s depiction of war has been received by modern artists to change the perception of war depending on the purposes of hegemonic powers through a careful analysis and a comparison of heroic figures and battle scenes in the Iliad with the above mentioned modern works. Thus, in summation, it is visible that the Homeric tradition of presenting warfare has been received by us moderns as a prototype in depicting war and it has been used as a tool to alter perceptions on modern day battles. | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Proceedings of the PGIHS Research Congress – PGIHS-RC-2018, University of Peradeniya, p.32 | |
| dc.identifier.isbn | 978-955-7395-01-2 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://ir.lib.pdn.ac.lk/handle/20.500.14444/4180 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | |
| dc.publisher | University of Peradeniya | |
| dc.subject | Romanticism of War | |
| dc.subject | Homer’s “Iliad” | |
| dc.subject | Altering Perceptions | |
| dc.title | The reception of homer’s iliad: a thematic analysis on romanticism of war | |
| dc.type | Article |