Fantasy Quests, a Literary Analysis

             In the Beginning, there was Man. In time, Man grew bored, so he created a work of fiction (not a woman, as the popular story goes). He read the fiction, and found it good and entertaining. He decided to create more, found it good, and so forth and so on. After He created this first work of fiction, Man decided it was finally time to get on with creation and propagate the species (and believe you me, it was hard tearing himself away from the latest book, even for a task of such magnitude). Well, maybe it didn't happen exactly like that, but that's the beauty of fiction. When writing a fictional tale, whatever the writer wishes, be it the most fantastic or unrealistic thing imaginable is as common as a telephone or computer chips.
             There are myriad types of fiction, but none that are as ancient and well liked like the fantasy quest or myth. This paper shall study in detail and compare/contrast three great Quests from three different time periods. The three Quests that were selected were "Jason and the Argonauts", from ancient Greece, "The Quest for the Holy Grail" (Le Morte D'Arthur) from medieval times, and "The Lord of the Rings", from modern times.
             But, you ask, just what exactly is fiction, or more specifically, a Fantasy Quest? Well, a fantasy quest is a story, sometimes long and epiclike and sometimes as short as a few chapters. It is written like a narrative or a play, except that the scenes take place in magical or mythical environments, like the Halls of Mount Doom, or the Caves of Hades. There is usually a main hero or heroine who faces dangers far beyond his (or her) capability to defeat by normal means and is backed up by a supporting cast of friends or comrades. To draw an analogy, the hero would be a polish farmer, armed only with a beer stein and a pitchfork, and backed up by a few hard-bitten army veterans (also with beer steins and pitchforks, one with a frying pan, ...

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