A Comparison of the Concept of Honor in the "Iliad" and the" Nibelungenlied"

Abstract

Honor was an important aspect of both heroic sets of ideals, but because of the different purposes of the epics, honor had a different role in each epic. To say that in the Iliad honor was Glorified, and in the Nibelungenlied it was not is to simplify things too much. When honor led to needless loss of life, then it was bad. The Iliad substantiated that statement too. When Achilles became excessive in his wrath, he lost the favor of the 30ds. The Iliad was concerned with the personal honor of one man, and heroic reclaiming of his due honor. The Nibelungenlied told a story of what honor could do to whole tribes or masses of people when it was misinterpreted. The Iliad secondarily told the tragic story of the Trojan War, but the Nibelungenlied secondarily told the tragic story of two people. The codes of honor were basically the same, but the different purposes of the epics led to different interpretations or comments on the heroic codes. 30th epics did What they were intended to do reasonably well; and though their purposes differed, the fact that they both dealt with the heroic code of ethics, or honor, unites them and makes a comparison possible. For what both epics defined as honorable is related.