Provenance Of

The influences behind The Last Days of Disco

31 works across 28 centuries, back to Hebrew Bible (Genesis, Psalms) and Iliad.

  1. Cover of Iliad

    c. 750 BCE

    Iliad

    Homer

    Archaic. Archaic Greece. Written in Ancient Greek.

    Epic of the wrath of Achilles during the Trojan War.

    What it handed down

    To Paradise Lost (1667)

    Structural model, probable.

    The war in heaven in Books 5 and 6 draws on Homeric battle narrative and divine combat. Milton also announces his subject as 'not less but more heroic' than the wrath of Achilles.

    To Aeneid (c. 19 BCE)

    Structural model, well documented.

    The second half of the Aeneid restages the Iliad in Italy, with Turnus as a new Achilles and Aeneas's final duel modeled on Achilles and Hector. Virgil also takes over Homeric similes, catalogues and battle scenes.

    Where it came from

    This is one of the oldest surviving works in its tradition; the line ends here.

    Find “Iliad” on Amazon

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Preview card: the tree of influence behind The Last Days of Disco