Posted on 04/18/2019 6:48:28 AM PDT by C19fan
Only one person created the monster.
Thats according to a team of researchers at Harvard, Dartmouth, and elsewhere, who determined the epic poem Beowulf, a staple of literature classes the world over, was written by a sole author more than a millennium ago.
The findings of the team, led by Madison Krieger, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvards Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, and Joseph Dexter, a Harvard PhD whos now a Neukom fellow at Dartmouth College, were published April 8 in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, Harvard said in a statement.
(Excerpt) Read more at bostonglobe.com ...
I remember having to read Beowulf in college. I put off reading it until the night before the test since it was a poem and was unaware that a poem could be novel length. I was up until 4:00 a.m. reading and to take the test at 8:30 a.m. I did pass though with a B if I remember correctly. I may one day reread it to see what it was really about.
Really? Without Homer would there have been a Virgil? Without Virgil would there have been a Dante? There would have been others, but not them. Same in English literature.
This was a LONG time ago. She was an old curmudgeon who probably went to college in the 1930’s. Today she’d probably be an A-list academic, doctor, lawyer, or whatever. Back then things were different. She taught school and probably thought she was lucky to have a good job during the Depression. Very impressive lady. She was a crusty old battle ax by the time I had her — she was into at least the second and in a few cases third generation of her students’ families — but we all knew she carried more academic weight than the rest of the faculty combined. A rarity in any era.
I hated it. Junior year in high school we had that and the dreadful Canterbury tales. We had others but those two sucked!
Homer to Virgil..., what 2,000 years?
Who knows, without Homer to fall back on Virgil might have written a classic on Etruscan history.
As for Homer himself, we have lost Homers great comedic epic, Margites (c. 700 BC). It influenced Plato and Aristotle but then gradually faded from history; yet, Comedy has done quite well in its absence.
In literature it seems that given the myriad of critics (of whom I’m one), the study of cause and effect in literature are subjects that elicit interminable debate.
I always liked the movie treatment Eaters of the Dead Crichtons interpretation.
Thanks C19fan.
While I’m not a fan of Angelina Jolie, I am a fan of Sir Anthony Hopkins. I watched “Beowulf” because he was in it, but once I began to notice it was a pixelated movie, I was amazed by the complexity of the art.
And of course, I read Michael Chrichton’s version, and that helped, but I don’t know if I could read the original...
Still, if I could get it free, hard or soft cover....
;o]
‘Face
Go to Project Gutenberg
https://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/
and search Beowulf and you’ll find a few translations to select from. You can download for free and read on your computer, kindle or epub device.
Well. I’m glad that’s settled.
Now I can sleep well....................
“You can download for free and read on your computer, kindle or epub device.”
I read where the author of Beowolf lamented that it had to be written by hand to be reproduced. “If only there was a better way to copy it - I would make it TWICE as long!”
Pretty amazing.
Like Bye Bye Miss American Pie?
Eould those same audiences even watch HBOGOT without the nudity ang shagging?
So, did I! And we couldn't avoid it - you couldn't take a class on comic books and pass English in those days. There was Senior English and that was it!
She did, mercifully, allow us to read it in translation, however.
I read part of Caesar's Gallic War in high school. Latin. Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres and all that. Lots of indirect discourse and for some reason he wouldn't let the Helvetii move to a more attractive piece of Gaul.
There’s an interesting interpretation: graphic novel, no words. Intriguing companion material.
Oh yes, “Grendel”. There’s a good sub-genre of books from other character’s point of view.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.