>Matter of Britain: Arthur, Merlin, the Knights of the Round Table>Matter of France: Charlemagne, Roland, the chansons de geste>Matter of Rome: Troy, Alexander, the classical heroes reborn in chivalric guiseNow that the dust has settled, which one do you think stands above the rest? Which matter was most significant for later literature and culture? Which has the best characters or themes? Do you have a favorite work or retelling tied to one of them?Personally, I’ve always been especially fond of the Matter of Britain. The Arthurian cycle feels like the most complete and emotionally rich of the three. It mixes heroism, tragedy, romance, betrayal, and the supernatural all in a single mythos. The Epic of King Arthur alone seems to encompass nearly every theme explored in the other Matters: chivalric duty and loyalty (as in the Matter of France), and classical echoes of fate and downfall (as you can see in th Matter of Rome). Not to mention the characters: Lancelot, Morgan, Mordred and his betrayal, and of course Merlin, probably one of my favourite characters in all literature.
>>24776684Arthur really was hamstrung by all that christian SHIT, you can tell it's a pagan tale writhing under the surface
I read the Song of Roland and Parzival and thought they were both boring af tbqh
>>24776684Look at the actual works produced.>Matter of Britain: Le Morte d'Arthur, Parzifal, Tristan, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight>Matter of France: Song of Roland, Orlando Furioso, Orlando Innamorato>Matter of Troy: Troilus and CressidaSince Britain has the most, it wins.
>>24776684>Matter of Rome: Troy, Alexanderlmao
>>24776721What's the problem though? Aeneid and Iliad were great.
>>24776729>What's the problem with a Greek war & epic and a Macedonian King being included in the Matter of Rome. Go to sleep Jean.
>>24776736>The Matter of Rome includes the Matter of Troy, consisting of romances and other texts based on the Trojan War and its legacy, including the adventures of Aeneas.p364: https://books.google.pt/books?id=K5WQRBvMp18C&pg=PA364&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
>>24776750>which reigns supremeClearly not the one that borrows so heavily from another culture, just like the fucking Aeneid which is Virgil giving the Romans lore prior to R&R (which would've supported your discussion better, along with arguable The Gallic wars if you're including Charlemagne) Also like how you don't even attempt to defend Alexander.
>>24776684yeah britain is the closest to being a real mythos with developed archetypes and all that. matter of france is more along the lines of feudal historical sagas. i don't think rome is worthy of serious consideration honestly. >>24776716damn... >>24776708weak.
>>24776729Didn't they read it in the form of the Alexander Romance though
>>24776716a lot of british legends are really french.
>>24776684For me, It would be a tie between Arthurian and Germanic Heroic Legend. The Dietrich von Bern stuff is very underrated
>>24777587I still get emotional listening to Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen and I'm not even German lol. The Germans and the English truly produced the finest works of art humanity has ever conceived. I don't usually say this openly because they're so damn arrogant and overbearing, but I have to admit, they're truly good at what they do.
>>24777859> Arthurian Film> Wagnerian soundtrackGive this a watch if you haven't already, It pretty much sparked my interest in European Epics
