October 26th, 2015.
#3.
Upon finishing The Iliad and The Memorial for our required readings in our Humanities Core class, we are now entering a more “modern” focus of war with Grimmelshausen’s The Adventures of Simplicius Simplicissimus — a most fascinating read which dove into the different aspects and views related to the Thirty Years’ War.
To be very honest, The Iliad was a pretty difficult read for me as it was difficult to understand and grasp the meanings behind certain phrases. (To those who were able to comprehend the text, I am forever jealous of you.) For whatever reasons, it took me many long nights trying to play catch up on the reading and understand the plot unfolding in The Iliad; however, with The Adventures of Simplicius Simplicissimus, the understanding was at a much more quicker pace — most probably due to the translation’s modern writing style.
Though we only read the first two books in this fascinating novel, the differences between the characters of The Iliad and the characters in The Adventures of Simplicius Simplicissimus are astounding. Comparing Simplicius to, for example, Achilles, leads to a pretty hilarious visual image. While Achilles exudes honor and strives for kleos through the heroics of war, Simplicius’s character portrayed a more less-put together, “toilet” humor, kind of soul. Achille’s character can be seen as a “symbol” for The Iliad, in my opinion, as his story (along with many others, no doubt) show a different perspective towards war in a more glorified limelight, while Simplicius’s character tells the tale of those who are not characterized as “heroes,” “kings,” “queens,” or “divine figures.” Rather, Simplicius’s character “symbolizes” the very essence of the “simple” (the connotation derived from Simplicius’s name) folk who were merely innocents thrown into the chaos of war.
Such a characterization reminds me of Professor Smith’s lecture in which he declares the use of a new form of perspective — “the view from below” — by Grimmelshausen as a way to provide a different outlook on the effects of war — many effects which are not always positive, as illustrated in The Iliad.
As we continue to read on in our first quarter of Humanities Core, I feel as though my perspective of war is broadening along with the texts we are reading. As we read The Iliad, I was exposed to the glorification of war (the start of our focus). As I read Simplicius, I was exposed to the turmoil of war (the change of our focus into a deeper understanding).
I feel selfish to say this, even a little guilty, but my life does not have many struggles. Of course, there are the usual problems, but war, turmoil, grief, etc. all emotions and events that many around the world experience on a daily basis (probably at the same point I am typing this blog post), all the true problems of the world, is somewhat of a foreign concept to me.
Until now.
Until I entered and began Humanities Core five weeks ago, my own perspective of war was quite limited; I have not seen nor have I been exposed to the tragedies of war, so how am I supposed to form my own opinions of such events to write on these blog posts, without understanding the causes and effects to these events in the first place?
I hope to answer this question by the end of the year in a more detailed post regarding how my views and comprehension of the term “war” will have evolved and changed into a better understanding of our main topic as a whole.
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