![\"\"](\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/0\/04\/Beowulf%2C_A_Book_of_Myths.jpg\/417px-Beowulf%2C_A_Book_of_Myths.jpg\")
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From the pulse-pounding world of statistical research,<\/strong> we have a story that says the Iliad <\/i>and Beowulf <\/i>and the Irish epic Tain Bo Cualinge <\/i>are all literally true in every detail<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ha, ha. No, they\u2019re not saying that. What they\u2019re saying, as best I understand it, is that the social relationships portrayed in those ancient epics are more realistic than those in modern fiction. \u201cOf the three myths, the network of characters in the Iliad has properties most similar to those of real social networks,\u201d they write in the journal EPL (Europhysics Letters). \u201cThis similarity perhaps reflects the archaeological evidence supporting the historicity of some of the events (the tale describes).\u201d<\/p>\n Similarly, the way the characters of Beowulf are linked together \u201chas some properties similar to real social networks,\u201d they write. This confirms the archaeological evidence that a number of the characters are based on real people, \u201calthough the events of the story often contain elements of fantasy.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Because, apparently, even though modern fiction is considered more realistic in terms of how people really relate to each other, modern fiction also oversimplifies enormously.<\/p>\n Or maybe it\u2019s just that ancient people had big families and were proud of it, while we today have small families and generally try to keep them out of sight.<\/p>\n I know that I oversimplify in my Viking novels. One of the things you can\u2019t miss in the Icelandic sagas is all the genealogies (I made some jokes about it in West Oversea<\/i>). These things mattered to the original audiences. They knew those farms and those families, and the affiliations mattered. I keep the relatives pretty much to a bare minimum in my stories, and even so I have to add character lists so the readers can keep their score cards straight.<\/p>\n In general, I don\u2019t like novels with large casts. I lose track. \u201cThere will be fewer, and better Russians,\u201d said Stalin, and I can only wish Tolstoy had said the same.<\/p>\n Tip: Threedonia<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From the pulse-pounding world of statistical research, we have a story that says the Iliad and Beowulf and the Irish epic Tain Bo Cualinge are all literally true in every detail. Ha, ha. No, they\u2019re not saying that. What they\u2019re saying, as best I understand it, is that the social relationships portrayed in those ancient … Continue reading I sing of Beowulf’s cousins<\/span>
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