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Song of Roland - Roland and Oliver

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The Song of Roland is a French poem written between 1040 and 1115. The poem, considered a medieval literature, is based on a battle that took place in 788 A.D involving the army of Charlemagne and the Saracens . The poem was originally written as propaganda and to provide a certain version of historical truth. Embodied within the poetry are the characters of Roland and Oliver. Despite the name of the song, the analysis of both characters illustrates that both Roland and Oliver can be considered heroic to the extent that each character reflects certain attributes of what is considered a hero in medieval literature. Nonetheless it is also possible that one character may possess more heroic qualities than another. This essay firstly examines the notion of a hero in relation to medieval literature. Secondly, the figures of Roland and Oliver are compared to show how both these characters shed light on the nature of medieval heroic ideals.
The song of Roland portrays the quality of a medieval hero through the dichotomy of the two characters. The characterisations of Roland and Oliver sheds light on the nature of medieval heroic ideals in that, to be a complete hero, one needs to possess all the traits which both Roland and Oliver possess. However the poet recognises that no one man can possess all such traits thus resulting in a tragic dichotomy of ideals. However one character may be considered more of a hero than another, and as argued by Fraser, Roland can ultimately be viewed as the sole hero of the text due to his bravery and courage. Thus this poem, through the characters of Roland and Oliver, sheds light on what constitutes a medieval hero.

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