Conclusion

To conclude, through the use use of digital hunmanities, our group was able to develop a project devoted to examining grief and grief response in Book 23 and Book 24 of Homer's Iliad. Utlizing XML markup strategies in conjunction with a robust Relax NG schema, we worked through both books to mark areas of the text based on our guiding research question: How is grief connected with complex emotions like anger, wrath, and lament as seen in the reaction of Achilles to the death of Patroclus? Using the data from the fully marked up Books, we were able to input that data to creat a graph that properly reflected internal and external displays of emotion, which revealed the external nature of displays of lament. In analyzing this data, it becomes apparent that grief is an emotion that has long touched humanity, one that is difficult to deal with, and certainly an emotion that is difficult to hide. Achilles, though an ancient fictional warrior, is a prime example of the emotion and reactions that come with tremendous loss of life. Furthermore, it becomes evident that grief comes in shockwaves. For example, the grief of Achilles results in the death of Hector and the grief of his family. The Iliad is perhaps one of the most important texts we have, since it portrays the complexity of these emotions in a truly timeless manner.

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