Poetic Heroes

Poetic Heroes
Author: Mark S. Smith
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 660
Release: 2014-09-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 0802867928

Warfare exerts a magnetic power, even a terrible attraction, in its emphasis on glory, honor, and duty. In order to face the terror of war, it is necessary to face how our biblical traditions have made it attractive -- even alluring. In this book Mark Smith undertakes an extensive exploration of "poetic heroes" across a number of ancient cultures in order to understand the attitudes of those cultures toward war and warriors. Smith examines the Iliad and the Gilgamesh; Ugaritic poems commemorating Baal, Aqhat, and the Rephaim; and early biblical poetry, including the battle hymn of Judges 5 and the lament of David over Saul and Jonathan in 2 Samuel 1. Smith's Poetic Heroes analyzes the importance of heroic poetry in early Israel and its disappearance after the time of David, building on several strands of scholarship in archaeological research, poetic analysis, and cultural reconstruction.

Heroic Poets, Poetic Heroes

Heroic Poets, Poetic Heroes
Author: Dwight F. Reynolds
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2018-03-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1501723235

An astonishingly rich oral epic that chronicles the early history of a Bedouin tribe, the Sirat Bani Hilal has been performed for almost a thousand years. In this ethnography of a contemporary community of professional poet-singers, Dwight F. Reynolds reveals how the epic tradition continues to provide a context for social interaction and commentary. Reynolds’s account is based on performances in the northern Egyptian village in which he studied as an apprentice to a master epic-singer. Reynolds explains in detail the narrative structure of the Sirat Bani Hilal as well as the tradition of epic singing. He sees both living epic poets and fictional epic heroes as figures engaged in an ongoing dialogue with audiences concerning such vital issues as ethnicity, religious orientation, codes of behavior, gender roles, and social hierarchies.

Heroic Poets, Poetic Heroes

Heroic Poets, Poetic Heroes
Author: Dwight F. Reynolds
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 267
Release: 2018-03-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1501723227

No detailed description available for "Heroic Poets, Poetic Heroes".

Poet and Hero in the Persian Book of Kings

Poet and Hero in the Persian Book of Kings
Author: Olga M. Davidson
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2019-07-15
Genre: Poetry
ISBN: 1501733974

A masterpiece of Persian Classical epic, the Shahnama or Book of Kings was composed by Abu'l-Qasem Ferdowsi at the beginning of the eleventh century. Because the Shahnama presents itself as a chronicle of the reigns of the shahs from the primordial founders to the Sasanian dynasty which ended in 651, scholarly attention has centered on the question of its historical accuracy. Addressing the literary as well as the historical and mythological aspects of the Shahnama, Olga M. Davidson makes this centerpiece of Iranian culture accessible to Western readers. Drawing on recent work in epic studies and oral poetics, Davidson considers analogies with Classical and medieval European narratives as she investigates the poem's social contexts. Her interpretation of the Shahnama focuses on both the figure of the poet himself and on his protagonists-the superhuman hero Rostam and the historical or historicized shahs. Exploring the Shahnama as an example of court poetry designed to glorify the idea of empire, Davidson identifies as a driving force of Ferdowsi's narrative a strong current of antagonism between king and hero. Ironically, she shows, it is the epic hero himself who poses the greatest threat to the concept of kingship that he is sworn to defend. Poet and Hero in the Persian Book of Kings will be welcomed by readers working in such fields as comparative literature, Middle Eastern Studies, folklore, literary theory, and comparative religion.

Heroic Poets and Poetic Heroes in Celtic Tradition

Heroic Poets and Poetic Heroes in Celtic Tradition
Author: Joseph Falaky Nagy
Publisher:
Total Pages: 426
Release: 2005
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN:

This volume, a double issue of the CSANA Yearbook, containing articles from some of the leading scholars in Irish, Welsh, and medieval studies, honors Patrick K. Ford, the retiring Margaret Brooks Robinson Professor of Celtic Languages and Literatures at Harvard University, and a founding member of the Celtic Studies Association of North America.

The “God of Israel” in History and Tradition

The “God of Israel” in History and Tradition
Author: Michael J. Stahl
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 498
Release: 2021-03-22
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004447725

In The “God of Israel” in History and Tradition, Michael Stahl examines the historical and ideological significances of the formulaic title “god of Israel” (’elohe yisra’el) in the Hebrew Bible using critical theory on social power and identity.

Heroic Bodies in Ancient Israel

Heroic Bodies in Ancient Israel
Author: Brian R. Doak
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2019-04-26
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0190650885

Authors from the ancient world rarely used great detail to describe the physical features of characters in their works. When they did mention bodies, they did so with very specific goals in mind. In particular, the bodies of "heroic" figures, such as warriors, kings, and other leaders became loaded sites of meaning for encoding cultural, religious, and political values on a number of fronts. Brian Doak analyzes the way biblical authors described the bodies of some of their most iconic male figures, such as Jacob, the Judges, Saul, and David. These bodies represent not mere individuals-they communicate as national bodies, signaling the ambiguity of Israel's murky pre-history, the division during the period of settlement in the land, and the contest of leading bodies fought between Saul and David. Heroic Bodies in Ancient Israel examines the heroic world of ancient Israel within the Hebrew Bible, and shows that ancient Israelite literature operated within and against a world of heroic ideals in its ancient context. The heroic body tells a story of Israel's remembered history in the eventual making of the monarchy, marking a new kind of individual power. Not merely a textual study of the Hebrew Bible in isolation, this book also considers iconography and compares Israelite literature with other ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern materials, illustrating Israel's place among a wider construction of heroic bodies.

The Poetic Edda

The Poetic Edda
Author:
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Total Pages: 376
Release: 2010-03-01
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 0292792549

The Poetic Edda comprises a treasure trove of mythic and spiritual verse holding an important place in Nordic culture, literature, and heritage. Its tales of strife and death form a repository, in poetic form, of Norse mythology and heroic lore, embodying both the ethical views and the cultural life of the North during the late heathen and early Christian times. Collected by an unidentified Icelander, probably during the twelfth or thirteenth century, The Poetic Edda was rediscovered in Iceland in the seventeenth century by Danish scholars. Even then its value as poetry, as a source of historical information, and as a collection of entertaining stories was recognized. This meticulous translation succeeds in reproducing the verse patterns, the rhythm, the mood, and the dignity of the original in a revision that Scandinavian Studies says "may well grace anyone's bookshelf."