USF St. Petersburg campus Honors Program Theses (Undergraduate)
First Advisor
Thesis Director: Dr. Sheramy Bundrick, Ph.D. Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Second Advisor
Thesis Committee Member: Dr. Julie B. Armstrong, Ph.D. Professor, College of Arts and Science
Third Advisor
Thesis Committee Member: Dr. Thomas W. Smith, Ph.D. Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Date
2020
Date Issued
2020-05-05
Abstract
Humankind is a story driven species in that we rationalize the proceedings of the world around us by authoring tales. These fictions are often appealing contortions of the factual events they sought to capture. The Trojan Cycle is no exception to this contortion. The ancient Greek epic poems which composed the Trojan Cycle were based on both bardic tradition of the Bronze Age Aegean, and the desires of the ancient audience of the poets. When we observe the tale of foremost significance amongst those of the Trojan Cycle, Homer's Iliad, we see that it is, as is the case for the whole of the cycle, in many ways estranged from what the archeological evidence from the mound of Hisarlik and elsewhere suggests about the historical Trojan War.
Humanity’s manipulation of these events, however, has not been limited to the immediate tales produced. Just as the ancient Greek epic poets embellished the surviving tales of the Trojan War passed down from the bards of the Bronze Age for their own audiences, historically, the tale as recounted in the Trojan Cycle has been no less subject to appropriation by authors and artisans throughout the ages. These stories have endured as they have, leading storytellers across time and in different media to keep them alive in many different forms, due to the Trojan Cycle’s unique ability to express intense human emotions and mortality. In order to understand how the Trojan Cycle has endured, we must understand both from whence it originates, and how the adaptation of the work was handled.
Recommended Citation
Fazzalari, Antonio D., "The Endurance of the Trojan Cycle" (2020). USF St. Petersburg campus Honors Program Theses (Undergraduate).
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/honorstheses/258
Comments
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the University Honors Program University of South Florida, St. Petersburg May 5, 2020.