Western Literature / Week2

textbook of this course

Oral tradition bard

This article is about oral tradition in general.

oral tradition(oral lore): a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved and transmitted orally from one generation to another. The transmission is through speech or song and may include folktales, ballads, chants, prose or verses. In this way, it is possible for a society to transmit oral history, oral literature, oral law and other knowledge across generations without a writing system, or in parallel to a writing system. Indian religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism, for example, have used an oral tradition, in parallel to a writing system, to transmit their canonical scriptures, secular knowledge such as Sushruta Samhita, hymns and mythologies from one generation to the next. 

Oral tradition is information, memories and knowledge held in common by a group of people, over many generations, and it is not same as testimony or oral history. In a general sense, "oral tradition" refers to the recall and transmission of a specific, preserved textual and cultural  knowledge through vocal utterance. As an academic discipline, it refers both to a set of objects of study and a method by which they are studied.

The study of oral tradition is distinct from the academic discipline of oral history, which is the recording of personal memories and histories of those who experienced historical eras or events. Oral tradition is also distinct from the study of orality defined as thought and its verbal expression in societies where the technologies of literacy (especially writing and print) are unfamiliar to most of the population. A folklore is a type of oral tradition, but knowledge other than folklore has been orally transmitted and thus preserved in human history.

Narrative& lyric

Narrative and lyric are two forms of poetry. They share some similarities in what people or situations they might discuss, but how they approach these things differs. Narrative poetry typically tells a story, while lyric poetry discusses views and emotions. Narrative is concerned with characters, such as heroes and other figures, whereas lyric poetry is concerned with the poet's views and emotions. 

Narrative

The narrative tradition dates back several centuries to when bards told tales of epic battles and other heroic stories. These stories were typically told orally, and were often improvised, not memorized. Narrative stories came from chanted myths, which were typically heavy in alliteration and other techniques. Later, in the Middle Ages, narrative poems took the form of romance stories in which heroic knights faced temptations throughout their journey. Examples include the Arthurian legends.

Lyric

Lyric poems are non-narrative. As well, they were originally sung, accompanied by an instrument called a lyre. Whereas narrative poems discuss other people, a lyric poet often writes about himself, including relationships and personal experiences. Likewise, a lyric poet expresses his feelings while discussing loved ones and heroes, as well as praising gods. Shakespeare's sonnets are examples of lyric poems.

Roman numerals

The numeric system represented by Roman numerals originated in ancient Rome and late middle ages remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the . Numbers in this system are represented by combinations of letters from the latin alphabet. Roman numerals, as used today, are based on seven symbols:

The use of Roman numerals continued long after the decline of the Roman Empire. From the 14th century on, Roman numerals began to be replaced in most contexts by the more convenient Hindu-Arabic numerals; however, this process was gradual, and the use of Roman numerals persists in some minor applications to this day.

Movie

Helen of Troy, 2003

Hellenism

Hellenization (American English) or Hellenisation (British) is the historical spread of ancient Greek culture and, to a lesser extent, language, over foreign peoples conquered by Greeks or brought into their sphere of influence, particularly during the Hellenistic period following the campaigns of Alexander the Great (king of Macedon, r. 336–323 BCE). The result of Hellenisation was that elements of Greek origin combined in various forms and degrees with local elements; these Greek influences spread from the Mediterranean basin as far east as modern-day Pakistan. In modern times, Hellenisation has been associated with the adoption of modern Greek culture and the ethnic and cultural homogenization of Greece.