Date of Award
6-2008
Document Type
Union College Only
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Classics
First Advisor
Stacie Raucci
Language
English
Keywords
legend, evolution, trojan, countless, homer’s
Abstract
This thesis explores one of the most enduring myths of the past three centuries: the Trojan War myth. From its theorized first origins in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, this story has had countless renditions told and retold, and each version seems to evolve the legend a bit further. What are the historical and social reasons for the evolution of the tale, and how did these various accounts crystallize into the relatively rigid model of the legend known today? Along with the evolution of the Trojan War legend, this thesis discusses the unprecedented cultural leap made by the story from Greece to Rome. Hundreds of years after Homer’s version, Vergil’s Roman epic, The Aeneid, capitalized on the Trojan legend and made one of its characters a Roman national hero. Along the way, countless more versions of the legend were written, both in Greek and Latin, and the evolution and migration of the myth continues to modern times.
Recommended Citation
Baum, Allison M., "The evolution and migration of the Trojan legend from Greece to Rome" (2008). Honors Theses. 1443.
https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/1443