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Tracing Loyalty Through The Selected Classics Essay, Research Paper

Loyalty is a theme found in many classics. The three classics that are discussed in this paper are _Sir Gawain and the Green Knight_, written by an unknown author, _The Odyssey_ by Homer, and _Don Quixote_, written by Miguel de Cervantes. In all three of the masterpieces loyalty can be traced through the characters action and words. Loyalty is evident in the characters behaviors to one another or maybe through a test they endure. In _The Odyssey_, _Sir Gawain and the Green Knight_, and _Don Quixote_ loyalty is apparent throughout the story.

_The Odyssey_ is believed to have been written by Homer and is infused with loyalty throughout the entire epic story. Odysseus is the most faithful, loving, and loyal husband, to Penelope, that any woman could dream of. Odysseus, in the beginning of his description of the trials and tribulations that he has endured, pledged his eternal loyalty to his ever-faithful wife Penelope. “We are mortal weary and sick at heart/… [if only] now may I see once more/ my hall, my lands, my people before I die!” (Homer 7:233-240). Thought Odysseus did lie with the goddess his loyalty to Penelope held true. The “Enchantress in her beauty” (Homer 7:274) enslaved the grand Odysseus to her will; yet Odysseus “in [his] heart [he] never gave consent.” (Homer 7:276) The goddess offered Odysseus a choice, the “promise [that he] should be/ immortal, [and] youthful, all the days to come” (Homer 7:275-276) or to continue his long continuous voyage to his queen Penelope. Because Odysseus chose to return to his devoted Penelope instead of gaining immortal life he has provided evidence of his loyalty to Penelope.

Another indication of loyalty seen in _The Odyssey_ is in Penelope’s fidelity to Odysseus. Penelope waited a long, lingering twenty years for her beloved Odysseus return to Ithaka and into her arms. Penelope proved her loyalty by “wearing out [her] lifetime with desire/ and sorrow, mindful of [her] lord, good man/” (Homer 18:229-230). Even though the pestering suitors were like vulture swarming in on fresh meat Penelope was able to hold them at bay with her faithful devotion to her mighty Odysseus. In order to do this the cunning and wily Penelope lead them to believe that she would marry one of them only to later let them down. She used the weaving of the funeral shroud for Lord Laertes to keep them under control. “So everyday she wove on the loom-/ but every night by torchlight she unwove it;” (Homer 1:110-111). Attestation of Penelope’s loyalty to Odysseus is the unweaving of the shroud because she did not want to marry one of the suitors and had full confidence in her beloved king’s return. The archery test that Penelope purposes is functioning to hold off the suitors, for none are a match for Odysseus, as well as prompting Odysseus to proving himself to her. “Upon Penelope, most worn in love and thought, / Athena cast a glance like a gray sea/ lifting her. Now to bring the tough bow out and bring/ the iron blades. Now try those dogs at archery.” (Homer 21:1-4). Penelope tests Odysseus to make him prove that it is he before she will trust him. The test of the bedpost that she puts to Odysseus once again proves Penelope’s

fidelity. “Forgive me, don’t be angry. I could not/ welcome you with love on sight!” (Homer 23:216-217). Penelope’s devotion held strong and she would not accept him until he proved himself. “ Their secret!” (Homer 23:206) shared was Odysseus’s key to her loyalty and her test.

Another hint of loyalty in _The Odyssey_ was the treatment Odysseus’s men received from him. Odysseus gave his men his loyalty and to help them to return home he saved them from the lotos eaters. When his men “fell in, soon enough, with the lotos eaters, /… [they became] forgetful of their homeland. / [and he] drove them, wailing, to the ships, / [and] tied them down under their rowing benches” (Homer 9:95-103). Odysseus, once again proving his loyalty to his crew members, saved them from Kirke when they were turned into swine. “Put heart in me to eat and drink- you may, / by freeing my companions. I must see them.” (Homer 10:418-419) By refusing food or drink until his men are free the honorable Odysseus upholds his loyalty to his crew. _The Odyssey_ is not the only classic that has the theme of loyalty.

_Sir Gawain and the Green Knight_ is believed to be written during the fourteenth century around 1380 A.D. by an unknown author. The theme of Loyalty is found throughout the entire story of _Sir Gawain and the Green Knight_; whether it is through Gawain’s loyalty to his uncle, King Arthur, of through the tests of loyalty faced by Gawain proposed by Morgan le Fay to Bercilak. Sir Gawain attests his loyalty to King Arthur by accepting the challenge of the Green Knight. “I beseech you, before all here, / That this mele may be mine.” (Gawain 341-342) In order to keep Arthur from losing face in front of his court Gawain accepts the challenge and humbles himself and his peers while doing so. “ When such boon is begged before all these knights, / Though you be tempted thereto, to take it upon yourself/ While so bold men about upon benches sit, /… I am the weakest, well I know. And of wit feeblest;/ And the loss of my life would be least of any;/… And for that this folly befits not a king,” (Gawain 349-358). Because no other knights undertook the confrontation and King Arthur felt obligated to accept it himself Sir Gawain’s loyalty stepped in and took the challenge.

Sir Gawain’s entire journey to the Green Chapel was the idea of Morgan le Fay to test the loyalty of King Arthur’s renowned court. Although Gawain did fail the test of loyalty and honor imposed be Morgan le Fay the thread of loyalty is still apparent. On the third day of the gift giving game Gawain received a

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