Volume 03 Issue 12-2023
119
American Journal Of Philological Sciences
(ISSN
–
2771-2273)
VOLUME
03
ISSUE
12
P
AGES
:
119-122
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2022:
5.
445
)
(2023:
6.
555
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
ABSTRACT
This article examines the epic cycle, which is a collection of ancient Greek epic poems. The poems are related to the
history of the Trojan War, so this collection is also called the Trojan cycle. The article gives a brief description of each
poem.
KEYWORDS
Epic cycle, Trojan cycle, in dactylic
hexameter, Trojan War, from eight poems, “Cyprin”, “Iliad”, “Ethiopida”, about the
victories of Achilles, “The Destruction of Ilion, or the Lesser Iliad”, “Returns”, “Odyssey”, "Telegony",
"Batrachomyomachy", War of the Mice and Frogs, in the form of fragments, by the most ancient, Homer.
INTRODUCTION
The epic cycle or Trojan cycle was a collection of
ancient Greek epic poems written in dactylic
hexameter and related to the story of the Trojan War.
The city of Troy (or Ilion) really existed. It was located
on the Asia Minor coast south of the Dardanelles. Troy
existed at the end of the 3rd millennium BC. and really
died from a fire, which is confirmed by excavations by
archaeologist Henry Schliemann.
The Trojan War is dated by historians to 1180 BC. The
Greeks probably returned with nothing, but, as often
happens in epic poems, the rhapsodists “corrected”
the historical truth, attributing the victory to their
Research Article
EPIC OR TROJAN CYCLE
Submission Date:
December 11, 2023,
Accepted Date:
December 16, 2023,
Published Date:
December 21, 2023
Crossref doi:
https://doi.org/10.37547/ajps/Volume03Issue12-19
Savenko O.
Department of Russian and Foreign Literature Termiz State University, Uzbekistan
Journal
Website:
https://theusajournals.
com/index.php/ajps
Copyright:
Original
content from this work
may be used under the
terms of the creative
commons
attributes
4.0 licence.
Volume 03 Issue 12-2023
120
American Journal Of Philological Sciences
(ISSN
–
2771-2273)
VOLUME
03
ISSUE
12
P
AGES
:
119-122
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2022:
5.
445
)
(2023:
6.
555
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
compatriots. The Trojan cycle consists of eight poems,
two of which are attributed to Homer.
1. “Cypria”
- describes the beginning and course of the
Trojan War. At the wedding feast of the Thessalian king
Peleus and the sea goddess Thetis, the goddess of
discord Eris threw an apple with the inscription “to the
most beautiful.” Zeus sent Hera, Athena and
Aphrodite, who claimed him, to the shepherd Paris,
who awarded him to Aphrodite for promising to marry
him to the most beautiful woman. She reveals to him
that he is the son of the Trojan king Priam, returns him
to Troy, helps him on his journey to Sparta, to King
Menelaus, and in the kidnapping of his wife Helen the
Beautiful. Insulted, Menelaus turned to his brother
Agamemnon, the supreme leader of the Greeks. (The
Greeks were also called Danaans, Achaeans, Hellenes).
All the Greek kings gathered - Odysseus, the king of
Ithaca, two Ajaxes - the king of Salamis and Ajax of
Locris, Achilles, the son of Thetis and Peleus, the king
of Argos Diomedes, the king of Euboea Palamedes, the
king of Crete Idomeneo and many others. All the kings
and their troops (100 thousand warriors) gathered in
the harbor of Aulis, but the gods did not send a fair
wind. They had to sacrifice Agamemnon’s eldest
daughter, Iphigenia. The Greeks reached Troy and
besieged it. The siege lasted 10 years.
2. The Iliad
–
attributed to Homer. The events of the
ninth year of the Trojan War are described (nine days
out of two months).
3. “Ethiopida”
- tells about the victories of Achilles over
the allies of the Trojans - the Amazons, led by Queen
Penthesilea and the Ethiopian king Memnon. The same
poem describes the death of Achilles from the arrow of
Paris, which was directed by Apollo. Achilles' golden
armor was contested by Odysseus and Ajax.
Agamemnon and Menelaus changed the lot of Ajax
and gave the armor to Odysseus. The offended Ajax
decided to destroy the Greeks, but at night, when he
armed himself with a sword and headed towards the
tents of Agamemnon and Menelaus, the gods sent
madness to him and he began to destroy herds of cows
and sheep. In the morning, having come to his senses,
he decided to atone for his shame by death and threw
himself on his sword.
“The Destruction of Ilion, or the Lesser Iliad”
- tells
about the capture of Troy. The cunning Odysseus
proposed building a huge wooden horse. The best
Greek armed warriors hid in it. The Greeks burned their
camp, boarded ships and sailed away, leaving their
horse on the shore. The captured Greek Sinon, at the
instigation of Odysseus, told the Trojans that the horse
would make Troy impregnable and they decided to
bring it into the city. The priest of Apollo Laocoön
dissuaded them, saying what became a catchphrase:
“Fear the Danaans, even those who bring gifts.” He
even threw a spear into the belly of the horse so that
the Trojans could hear the clanking of the Greek
weapons, but Athena sent two snakes that strangled
Volume 03 Issue 12-2023
121
American Journal Of Philological Sciences
(ISSN
–
2771-2273)
VOLUME
03
ISSUE
12
P
AGES
:
119-122
SJIF
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MPACT
FACTOR
(2022:
5.
445
)
(2023:
6.
555
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
Laocoon and his two sons. The Trojan princess
Cassandra also predicted the death of Troy because of
a horse, but the Trojans did not believe her either. In
order to bring the horse into the city, the Trojans
destroyed the fortress wall at the gate. When the
happy Trojans fell asleep, the Greeks got out of the
horse, set it on fire and attacked the Trojans. Seeing
the glow, the Greeks swam out from behind the island
where they were hiding and attacked Troy, breaking
through a hole in the wall. For three days the Greeks
plundered the city and, finally, loading treasures and
captured Trojan women onto ships, they headed to
their native shores. Of all the Trojans, only Aphrodite's
son Aeneas was saved, who carried his father Anchises
and son Ascanius in his arms.
5. "Returns"
–
The Greeks returned with rich booty.
Many returned without complications, but Menelaus
wandered for 7 years, got into storms, and waited for
a fair wind on the island of Pharos for 20 days. The
younger Ajax died, punished by Poseidon for his
arrogance. Agamemnon also had a hard time getting
there, but upon arriving home, he was killed by his wife
Clytemnestra.
6. “Odyssey”
- this poem is also attributed to Homer, it
forms part of the “Returns”, dedicated to the 10
-year
wanderings of Odysseus before arriving in his native
Ithaca.
7. "Telegony".
–
The son of Odysseus and Circe (Circe),
Telegonus, goes to look for his father, arrives in Ithaca
and, not recognizing him, kills him. Telegonus and
Penelope take the div of Odysseus to Kirke, but she
cannot resurrect him, but she grants immortality to
Telegonus and Penelope.
8."Batrachomyomachy" (War of the Mice and Frogs).
–
A direct parody of the heroic epic (VI-V centuries BC).
The heroics of the epic, the Olympic gods, traditional
techniques of the epic style (starting with the
obligatory appeal to the Muse in the introduction),
sublime pathos and plot are parodied. The frog king
Vzdulomorda, carrying the little mouse Krokhobor
across the stream, was frightened by a water snake,
dived and drowned the little mouse, who turned out to
be from the royal family. A great war begins. At the
same time, a council of the gods is taking place on
Olympus. Athena refuses to help both sides. The mice
win, but Zeus sends crayfish to help them. The mice are
running. Thus ends the “great one
-
day war.”
There are 2 types of epic:
–
heroic
–
tells about the glorious past, about gods and
heroes (“Iliad” and “Odyssey” by Homer).
–
didactic (from the Greek “didactikos”
-
“instructive”,
“instructive”)
- tells about how to live and work
correctly (“Works and Days” by Hesiod).
Volume 03 Issue 12-2023
122
American Journal Of Philological Sciences
(ISSN
–
2771-2273)
VOLUME
03
ISSUE
12
P
AGES
:
119-122
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2022:
5.
445
)
(2023:
6.
555
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
The oldest surviving monuments of Greek literature are
two great poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the author
of which Homer was considered by antiquity.
REFERENCES
1.
Gilenson A. N. History of ancient literature. Part
1. Literature of Ancient Greece.
–
M.: 2003.
2.
Lukov Vl. A. History of literature. Foreign
literature from its origins to the present day: a
textbook for students. Higher Textbook
Establishments.
–
M.: Publishing Center
“Academy”, 2008.
3.
https://facetia.ru/epic-
cycle?ysclid=lq44ggle4o642260969
