I think the emphasis on offering libations, sacrifice etc to the gods, whilst also paradoxically seeking personal honour in the most selfish manner, is peculiar to classical literature, as well as the idea of spiteful gods inflicting punishment on mortals for transgressions that are alien to the modern mind.
Chivalric literature is a good comparison, though, with its idea of a Hero being similarly idiosyncratic as the Epic Hero, requiring an irreconcilable mix of chastity and (amorous and martial) valour to be the perfect knight (hence Lancelot weeping when he, an adulterer, is still proven to be the best of knights, as it meant there wasn't anyone who actually fulfilled the brief, as it were - Galahad had already faded into the twinkly ether by this point).
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Date: 2009-07-15 09:55 am (UTC)Chivalric literature is a good comparison, though, with its idea of a Hero being similarly idiosyncratic as the Epic Hero, requiring an irreconcilable mix of chastity and (amorous and martial) valour to be the perfect knight (hence Lancelot weeping when he, an adulterer, is still proven to be the best of knights, as it meant there wasn't anyone who actually fulfilled the brief, as it were - Galahad had already faded into the twinkly ether by this point).