 I have created this web page for my summer research
project, which is sponsored by the ACM minority scholarship program. My research project is to use the traditional
rhetorical strategies and themes found in the classical epics of Homer, Apollonius of
Rhodes, and Virgil and apply it to Dante, Milton and Pope in order to illustrate the
evolution of the woman in epic poetry. The texts that will be used are Homer's Iliad
and Odyssey, the Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes, the Aeneid of
Virgil, the Divine Comedy by Dante, Spenser's Faerie Queene, Milton's Paradise
Lost and The Rape of the Lock by Pope. The reason why I have chosen these
particular texts is not only for the expanse of time they cover, but, also the influence
of Homer's epics can be seen in all the epics chosen especially the Aeneid, while
Apollonius' depiction of Medea is argued to be the base for Virgil's depiction of Dido in
the Aeneid. Homer, Virgil and Dante are considered the three greatest epic poets
so obviously it was necessary to include them. Dante's Divine Comedy foreshadows
the humanism that is characteristic of the Renaissance specifically the combination of the
secular and the sacred and the portrayal of Beatrice. Milton's Paradise Lost for
its portrayal of Eve and the incorporation of the classical epic into an almost purely
Christian context. Pope's mock epic The Rape of the Lock was chosen because of
the close parodies with the Iliad, Aeneid and Paradise Lost
and the role of Belinda. |