Literature cycle

Ask a question about 'Literature cycle' Start a new discussion about 'Literature cycle' Answer questions from other users Full Discussion Forum

Examples of Literary Cycles

• One well known such cycle is the Arthurian cycle, the stories of King Arthur
  King Arthur
  
  King Arthur is a legendary Britons leader who, according to medieval histories and Romance , led the defence of Britain against the Saxon invaders in the early 6th century....
  , Lancelot
  Lancelot
  
  In the Arthurian legend, Sir Lancelot is one of the Knights of the Round Tables of the Round Table . He is typically considered to be one of the greatest and most trusted of King Arthur's knights and plays a part in many of Arthur's victories....
   and the Knights of the Round Table
  Round Table (Camelot)
  
  The Round Table is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his Knights of the Round Tables congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that everyone who sits there has equal status....
  .

• Another cycle that is frequently drawn upon is centered on the Trojan War
  Trojan War
  
  In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta....
  ; the Iliad
  ILiad
  
  The iLiad is an electronic handheld device, or e-book device, which can be used for document reading and editing. Like the Sony Reader or Amazon Kindle, the iLiad makes use of an electronic paper display....
  , the Odyssey
  Odyssey
  
  The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Hellenic civilization epic poetrys attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work traditionally ascribed to Homer....
  , the Aeneid
  Aeneid
  
  The Aeneid is a Latin Epic poetry written by Virgil in the late 1st century BC that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy who traveled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Rome....
  , and countless other epic poetry
  Epic poetry
  
  An epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation....
   that draws on this body of tales.

• There is a Charlemagne cycle, also known as the Matter of France
  Matter of France
  
  The Matter of France, also known as the Carolingian cycle, is a body of legendary history that springs from the Old French medieval literature of the chanson de geste....
  ; a Robin Hood cycle featuring Robin Hood
  Robin Hood
  
  Robin Hood is an archetype figure in English folklore, whose story originates from Middle Ages times but who remains significant in popular culture where he is known for robbing the rich to give to the poor and fighting against injustice and tyranny....
  ; there are many more.

• Irish literature
  Irish literature
  
  For a comparatively small island, Ireland has made a disproportionate contribution to world literature in all its branches. Irish Literature encompasses the Irish Language and English Language languages....
   includes four cycles: the Fenian Cycle
  Fenian Cycle
  
  The Fenian Cycle or Fiannaidheacht , also known as the Fionn Cycle, Finn Cycle, Fianna Cycle, Finnian Tales, Fian Tales, F?inne Cycle, Feinn? Cycle and Ossianic Cycle, is a body of prose and verse centering on the exploits of the mythical hero Fionn mac Cumhaill and his warriors the Fianna...
   (the tales of Fionn mac Cumhaill
  Fionn mac Cumhaill
  
  Fionn mac Cumhaill was a mythical hunter-warrior of Irish mythology, occurring also in the mythologies of Scotland and the Isle of Man. The stories of Fionn and his followers, the Fianna, form the Fenian cycle or Fiannaidheacht,much of it supposedly narrated by Fionn's son, the poet Ois?n....
   and the Fianna
  Fianna
  
  In early Ireland, fianna were small, semi-independent warrior bands who lived apart from society in the forests as mercenaries, bandits and hunters, but could be called upon by kings in times of war....
  ); the Mythological Cycle
  Mythological Cycle
  
  The Mythological Cycle is one of the four major cycles of Irish mythology, and is so called because it represents the remains of the paganism mythology of pre-Christian Ireland, although the deity and supernatural beings have been euhemerised into historical kings and heroes....
  ; the Historical Cycle; and the Ulster Cycle
  Ulster Cycle
  
  The Ulster Cycle, formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, one of the four great cycles of Irish mythology, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the traditional heroes of the Ulaid in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly counties County Armagh, County Down and County Louth....
   (the tales of Cúchulainn
  Cúchulainn
  
  C?chulainn is an Irish mythology hero who appears in the stories of the Ulster Cycle, as well as in Scottish folklore and Isle of Man folklore....
  ).

• The four troubadour
  Troubadour
  
  A troubadour was a composer and performer of Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages .The troubadour school or tradition began in the eleventh century in Occitania, but it subsequently spread into Italy, Spain, and even Greece....
  s Bernart d'Auriac
  Bernart d'Auriac
  
  Bernat or Bernart d'Auriac was a minor troubadour notable mainly for initiating a Literary cycle of five short sirventes in the summer of 1285....
  , Pere Salvatge
  Pere Salvatge
  
  Pere Salvatge or Peire/Peyre Salvagge was a Catalan people troubadour of the late thirteenth century . He is most notable as a constant attendant at the court of Peter III of Aragon and Alfonso III of Aragon....
  , Roger Bernard III of Foix, and Peter III of Aragon
  Peter III of Aragon
  
  Peter the Great was the King of Aragon of Kingdom of Valencia and of Majorca , and Sovereign Count of Barcelona from 1276 to his death. He conquered Kingdom of Sicily and became King of Sicily in 1282....
   composed a cycle of four sirventes
  Sirventes
  
  The sirventes or serventes is a genre of Occitan lyric poetry used by the troubadours. In early Catalan language it became a sirventesch and was imported into that language in the fourteenth century, where it developed into a unique didactic/moralistic type....
   in the summer of 1285 concerning the Aragonese Crusade
  Aragonese Crusade
  
  The Aragonese Crusade or Crusade of Arag?n, a part of the larger War of the Sicilian Vespers, was declared by Pope Martin IV against the King of Arag?n, Peter III of Aragon, in 1284 and 1285....
  .

• The York cycle
  York Mystery Plays
  
  The York Mystery Plays are an England play cycle of forty-eight mystery plays, or pageants, which cover sacred history from the creation to the Last Judgement....
   of mystery plays described the entire history of salvation in 47 plays that were developed in York
  York
  
  York is a walled city, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire and River Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city status in the United Kingdom is noted for its rich heritage and it has played an important role throughout much of its almost 2,000 year existence....
   in the 14th through 16th centuries.

• The Ring of the Nibelung is a cycle of four operas, all by Richard Wagner
  Richard Wagner
  
  Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, Conducting, theatre director and essayist, primarily known for his operas . Unlike most other great opera composers, Wagner wrote both the scenario and libretto for his works....
  , describing the events surrounding a magical gold ring and often referred to as "the Ring Cycle".

• The Cthulhu Mythos
  Cthulhu Mythos
  
  The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared universe created in the 1920s by American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term Lovecraft Mythos is preferred by some — most notably the Lovecraft scholar S.T....
  , sometimes known as the Cthulhu Cycle is composed of stories written by the originator H. P. Lovecraft
  H. P. Lovecraft
  
  Howard Phillips Lovecraft was an United States author of horror fiction, fantasy fiction, and science fiction, known then simply as weird fiction....
   as well as those written by other authors inspired by him.

• The Japanese literary concept of sekai (??, lit. "world") bears strong similarities to that of a cycle. Those surrounding Minamoto no Yoshitsune
  Minamoto no Yoshitsune
  
  was a general of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian period and early Kamakura period. Yoshitsune was the ninth son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo....
   and the Soga brothers are likely the most popularly reproduced.