Friday, October 21, 2011
"There is nothing new under the sun."
As once written in Ecclesiastes, "there is nothing new under the sun." As we read more and more works, I'm beginning to realize how true this verse is. The Divine Comedy was inspired by Virgil and Virgil was inspired by Homer. They all share similar mythological creatures and characteristics of an epic. Furthermore as Meredith pointed out in class, many elements of the Harry Potter series can be seen in these classics. Other things, like the Roman architecture and art were also inspired from the past, the Greeks, who were in turn inspired by the ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians. Maybe like Marquez suggested in One Hundred Years of Solitude, time really is circular. Well, at least to some extent.
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4 comments:
I AGREE. To make a cheesier comparison, it's like Hugh Jackman's song "Everything Old Is New Again" (really cheesy, don't listen to it). That said, literary themes tend to cycle and recycle. For example, Tristan & Isolde resembled any present day movie where the girl is betrothed to/dating the wrong guy (uhhh The Notebook). That theme seems cliche, right? Well, it is.
I agree as well. I think the same can be said for languages. After having taken latin for a few years I can understand the basic meanings of words in spanish and other languages. Languages seem very similiar in this regard.
I agree. Art has a sort of domino effect. One artist inspires another who inspires another who inspires another.
I wonder who inspired Homer? I feel this way about jokes. It seems almost impossible to have an original joke. I think everyone is effected by those they live around and are influenced by those who where great. To me, it's almost like Dante is kind of using the story of Aeneas in the underworld to make himself popular. Was he well known before this?
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