http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/epic Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Wed, 10 Jun 2026 02:29:01 -0400 Wed, 10 Jun 2026 02:29:01 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1882/penelope-helen-and-the-ancient-greek-spectrum-of-femininity-observations-of-womanhood-in-the-homeric-epics By Jenn Beardsley - Although most Ancient Greek literature focused on male characters, a literary analysis of Homeric poetry reveals an inquisition of femininity, motherhood, and what it meant to be a woman in Ancient Greece. Throughout the epic The Iliad and its sequel The Odyssey, the Homeric poets created a spectrum of ideal versus unideal femininity, with notorious Helen on one end and faithful Penelope on the other. Dissection of each epic unveils an exploration into this spectrum of femininity through the use of motifs, or the repetition of a theme throughout a narrative. Specifically, the poets utilized the... Fri, 26 Feb 2021 02:40 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1882/penelope-helen-and-the-ancient-greek-spectrum-of-femininity-observations-of-womanhood-in-the-homeric-epics http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1547/the-value-of-reason-in-the-stoic-philosophies-of-epictetus-and-aurelius By Rocco A. Astore - Philosophers have long debated the meaning of virtuousness and the role that reason plays in achieving it. According to the Stoic philosophers Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius, virtue comes through a proper understanding of nature, its processes, as well as one’s place in it. This piece will first explicate Epictetus’ and Aurelius’ views concerning nature, its workings, and the role that reason plays in it. Next, I will explicate both of their views on what one can do to garner rationality, through their shared brand of Stoicism. Finally, I will argue that the ability people have... Wed, 01 Mar 2017 12:23 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1547/the-value-of-reason-in-the-stoic-philosophies-of-epictetus-and-aurelius http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1433/comparing-godly-and-satanic-happiness-in-john-miltons-paradise-lost By Alison L. Bare - Two conflicting modes of living—happiness pursued obediently (Godly) versus happiness pursued disobediently (Satanic)—produce persistent problems with conceptions of free will in John Milton’s Paradise Lost. The Godly mode of happiness recognises that one is free to choose their path to human happiness, but only within God’s bounds; the Satanic mode of happiness recognises that one is entitled to human happiness, but not limited by God’s bounds. It is the relationship between these two modes of living that reveals a Miltonic paradox—free to choose human happiness... Sun, 21 Aug 2016 03:41 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1433/comparing-godly-and-satanic-happiness-in-john-miltons-paradise-lost http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1206/the-dichotomy-of-gender-in-euripides-bacchae By Hayley E. Tartell - In Euripides’ Bacchae, careful examination of the character Dionysus illuminates discrepancies in action based on gender. Ultimately, Dionysus’ effeminate nature compounded with his subversive measures toward women and male proclivities suggest an inherent duality. Dionysus’ vacillation between masculine and feminine tendencies characterizes him as a heteronormative embodiment of both males and females, in essence, a community or civilized society. However, since his duality also represents a loss of identity, one can deduce that the play advocates a pre-communal state of existence... Mon, 12 Oct 2015 09:44 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1206/the-dichotomy-of-gender-in-euripides-bacchae http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/887/exploring-virgilian-structures-in-book-iii-of-spensers-faerie-queene By Vanessa M. Braganza - Contrary to the scintillating promise of its title, Spenser’s Faerie Queene is a far cry from the insubstantial delights of light fantasy fiction. A narrative poem in six books, this hefty labyrinthine work chronicles the quests of the patron knights of six virtues through their perpetual stumblings and successes. Initially upon beholding its very physical bulk as it lies ponderously on the table, one might be excused for believing that there cannot possibly exist syntactic parallels with other works within individual lines of this work. The discovery that Spenser indeed seems to have woven... Sun, 13 Apr 2014 03:37 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/887/exploring-virgilian-structures-in-book-iii-of-spensers-faerie-queene http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/532/creation-and-rebellion-in-william-faulkners-as-i-lay-dying By Tristan Gans - Perusing famous works of literature, one would be hard pressed to find a volume that does not concern itself with the relationship of a creation to its creator. It is a central concern of most religious texts, as well as much of the narrative literature that the academic world deems to be above the realm of escapism. This is hardly surprising in that creation is inherent in existence; moreover, it is central to the subsidiary themes that often drive stories: family relationships, the nature of art, the role of society for the individual, the role of the individual in society, and so on. More specifically... Wed, 25 May 2011 08:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/532/creation-and-rebellion-in-william-faulkners-as-i-lay-dying http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/392/the-effect-of-troys-rebirth-on-aeneass-transformation-in-the-aeneid By Sujay Kulshrestha - In the Aeneid, Virgil depicts the struggle of the newly displaced Trojans to find a new home, under the leadership of Aeneas. The Trojans, having only recently lost the Trojan War to the Greeks, travel in search of a new home, eventually settling in Italy−to the dismay of some of the Italians. The motif of Troy’s rebirth plays a major role in the Aeneid in that it is intertwined with Aeneas’s personal destiny; the two domains are so intertwined that Aeneas both prevents his own happiness and alters his own personality to successfully create a new Troy. Over the course of the... Fri, 18 Feb 2011 09:34 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/392/the-effect-of-troys-rebirth-on-aeneass-transformation-in-the-aeneid http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/350/in-what-sense-are-short-poetic-texts-a-narrative By Jeremy S. Page - We can categorize poetic texts into three distinct types: the narrative poem, or poem that tells a story; the epic poem, or a long narrative poem on heroic subjects; and the lyric, in which a poet or speaker expresses an emotional state. (Schweibert: 166)1 However, if we follow Abbott’s view that narrative occurs ‘as soon as we follow a subject with a verb...’ then it makes sense that indeed every poetic text is a form of narrative. It is thus the focus of this essay to show, using examples from Hughes, Heaney and Glück, that elements of narrative are contained in all poetic... Fri, 31 Dec 2010 09:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/350/in-what-sense-are-short-poetic-texts-a-narrative http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/178/jesus-christ-as-the-modern-hero-in-john-miltons-paradise-lost By Michael P. McMahon - The story of mankind's fall from Eden as written by John Milton in his epic poem Paradise Lost portrays a classically heroic Satan and a modern hero in God's Son, Jesus Christ. While Satan fits the archetype of an epic hero, he is in fact showing readers that classic heroes are not the true savoirs of the people. Satan is directly constrasted by God's Son, who is not a gloriously strong warrior like the antique heroes. The complex character of Satan has power beyond measure when compared to man but ultimately falls due to his very human flaw of refusing to bow down before God. The Son is not depicted... Mon, 22 Feb 2010 09:17 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/178/jesus-christ-as-the-modern-hero-in-john-miltons-paradise-lost http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/62/the-emobidment-of-human-tragedy-in-the-illiad By Lindsay D. Clark - Why raise the curtain on this 45 day by 45 night saga? In a story whose ending everybody knows already, why choose these actions of these characters to expound upon? The Iliad is not a war tale one might tell in which friends love friends, who in conjunction hate enemies, and all fight quite openly for comrades, for righteousness, and for glory—for here wherein lies a single truth? Or a story worth telling? The Iliad instead is a story of confusion, of vagueness, of mixed messages and muddled motivations. And it achieves its primary meaning not through fearless Achilles or great Hector... Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:41 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/62/the-emobidment-of-human-tragedy-in-the-illiad