Thomas Homer-Dixon

Heroes have captivated the minds of people throughout time. They fill the lore of cultures in all time periods and give societies a beacon of hope. The Epic of Gilgamesh and Beowulf are cultural examples of heroes. These stories gave their respective cultures hope and the thrill of a higher stratosphere of ability and honor. More importantly, these heroes help present day historians learn more about the cultures that idolized them. The Epic of Gilgamesh begins by narrating the rule of Gilgamesh…

Mahabharata has the honor of being the longest epic in world literature but it is not a mere epic; it is a romance, telling the tale of heroic men and women, and of some who were divine; it is a whole literature in itself, containing a code of life, a philosophy of social and ethical relations, and speculative thought on human problems. It is an embodiment of a scripture which provides traditional, ritual and mythical ground for modern Hindus. In a patriarchal society, men set the rules and…

My name Sydney also spelled as Sydnee, Sydnie, Sidnie, or even Sydni. Sydney can be a boy or girl name. Sidney is variation of a surname, but was later changed the spelling to Sydney. Sydney is most commonly used in English and is french for Dennis. Helmes is my last name. Most people spell it Helms, which is English and is a variant for helm 1, Helmes is german and is patronymic for helm 3, somehow these are linked to one another and have probably changed in spelling over the years. Helmes…

The Nature versus Nurture argument has been a complicated altercation for the past two centuries. While the ideas involved in the debate have existed for hundreds of years, the argument itself began in the 19th century. It can be considered one of the oldest arguments in history. Nativists and empiricists are the two names coined for those unequivocally declaring either nature or nurture as their standpoint. Nativists are for the nature side, which is in contrast to empiricists who are for the…

Publius Vergilius Maro, usually referred to as Virgil, is recognized as the greatest of the Roman poets. His best-known work, the epic poem Aeneid, describes the adventures of Aeneas alongside his fellow survivors of the Trojan War. With many characters filling important moral and symbolic roles, Dido allows the protagonist to exercise an important Roman value, pietas. Dido’s character is present in the first half, books one through six, of the Aeneid. With all of this mention, she must be…

In The Odyssey (the epic poetry); the story of Odysseus returning to Ithaka from the Trojan War, several characters faced obstacles which that had to overcome using strategies. In the book The Odyssey by Homer the theme wisdom is shown by Penelope and Odysseus. In the book The Odyssey by Homer, and translated by Robert Fitzgerald there are several circumstances where Penelope faced problems, and she used wisdom to overcome them. Examples of how literary style is used to represent the theme…

In ancient Roman history, Virgil a great poet wrote two of the most epic poems in The Iliad and The Aeneid. Both poems contained main characters that were meant to showcase the greatness that was to be a standard for being a great Roman hero in respect to Achilles and Aeneas through respect to Gods, duty to their country and loyalty to family. Although these characters were similar in their own respect, Virgil made a clear distention in the two using their personalities and different motivations…

“There’s heroes and there’s legends: Heroes get remembered, but legends never die” (The Sandlot). This idea of building a reputation that lives on after one is gone is seen in Beowulf, an epic poem by an unknown author from the mid-sixth century. Nearly everyone cares about how they are perceived and their reputation in one way or another, whether it is striving to make people like them or trying to become an unforgettable legend. In either case, the desire to have a good reputation is a strong…

Literature can be anything from poetry to an epic to a novel. It dates back thousands upon thousands of years. The “Epic of Gligamesh” and the Book of Job are two of these pieces of literature. These two works are very different, but at the same time they are very similar. A universal theme they both share is the characters have to come to term with and learn about the human condition. They both go through trials in figuring out how to achieve honor in the short time they have on this planet.…

The movie Troy is based on a not so true story known as the Iliad by Homer, which scholars believe that he may not have written it himself. The Iliad is 99 percent fiction with very little actual history in it. The story was inspired by the past and the stories that were handed down for generations to generation and then recorded by Homer. Although it is believed that Homer was not the only writer. What the movie got right is that there was actually a city of Troy. The walls surrounding Troy…