On Choosing a Life

Variations on an Epic Theme in Apuleius Met 10 & 11

Bibliographic Data

ID9366113
AuthorsJ Penwill (La Trobe University, corresponding author), J L Penwill
Year2009
Volume38
Issue1
Pages85-108
Publication date2009-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueRamus (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0048-671X • E-ISSN: 2202-932X
PublisherCambridge University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1017/s0048671x00000655
OpenAlexW1850436821
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited34

In the course of the evolution of an epic hero, there comes a point at which he has to make a choice between two ways of life. It is a motif that goes right back to the Iliad : Hom. Il. 9.410-16 For my goddess mother, silver-footed Thetis, tells me that the doom I carry towards the finality of death is twofold. If I stay here and fight around the Trojans' city, my return home is lost, but I shall have imperishable glory. But if I return home to the dear land of my fathers, that noble glory is lost, but I shall have long life and the finality of death will not come to me quickly

Aesthetics · Art · EPIC · Genealogy · Glory · HERO · Literature · Motif (music · Physics · Theme (computing · Classical Antiquity Studies · Computer Science · History · Philosophy

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