Author: Angus Glashier (---.net.au)
Date: 04-04-2002 20:34
The formula for a Paladin is simple:
Paladin = Warrior + Priest - Personality
Arthur is proud, Lancelot is lustful, but Galahad is all piety and bravery - he's a bore. That's why there are 100+ books and films about the Arthur/Gwenivier/Lancelot love triangle and Galahad is reduced to cameo appearences at the end of such works, if he appears at all.
But Paladins aren't just a Christian archetype, as the character of Hippolytus in Euripides' tragedy of the same name illustrates. He's totally devoted to the goddess Artemis beyond all things, obsessed with his "purity" and "honour - just like Galahad and Roland. Of course, Hippolytus is crushed to death by his chariot horses after a jealous Aphrodite sends a bull after him - this is an ancient Greek myth after all!
|
|
