The Quest In Classical Literature: Structuralism And Databases

The Quest In Classical Literature: Structuralism And
Databases

Paul
Barrette
Department of Classics McMaster
University
barretp@mcmaster.ca

1999

Univeristy of Virginia

Charlottesville, VA

ACH/ALLC 1999

editor

encoder

Sara
A.
Schmidt

What is a quest? After a close reading of Ovid's Metamorphoses and other Classical texts, I have developed a
working definition of the mythological quest:
The quest begins with an initiator who is in need of something or
someone import.I shall refer to the "need of something
or someone important" as the object
of quest." This object requires a substantial effort to
obtain. The initiator calls or imposes upon someone to undertake the
quest, or he may plan to go on the quest himself. A long and
substantial journey follows, on which the quester may journey alone
or with companions. The quester usually faces some difficulty during
the course of the journey either before the destination is reached
or after the object is obtained. During this journey the quester may
be forced to suspend the quest for various reasons. Upon resolution
of these reasons, the quester may continue the quest. Upon arrival
at the destination, the quester may seek the possessor and/or the
object. The quester may or may not face some sort of test and/or
challenge before obtaining the object. Should the quester fail the
test and/or challenge, he or she might not obtain the object. The
quest is usually complete when the quester returns with or without
the object of the quest. Usually the quest is orbital in form, where
the quester returns to the point of inception. However, under some
circumstances the quest may be considered complete if, before the
inception of the quest, the quester has no intention of returning,
e.g. when the object is a new homeland.

In order to systematically analyze the quest in detail I located a manageable
number of quests (35) according to the definition above in both classical
and non-classical authors from different genres of literature (e.g. epic,
comedy, prose, epitome), from different chronological periods and languages.
In addition, I included different versions of several mythological quests so
that variant versions of the same quest could be compared more closely.
Inspired by Propp'sSee Propp, V. Morphology of
the Folktale. Trans. Scott, L. Second ed. Austin: University
of Texas Press, 1968. pp. 19-24. structuralist approach to
folktale, I decided to use the narrative function as the basic unit of quest
structure and to develop a system of functions with which to describe the
quest. Since my work is primarily concerned with the quest, and not with
larger and more complex myths or tales, I developed a specialized definition
of the function, which is based on Propp's:See Propp, pp.
19-24.

An act of a dramatis persona,See Prince, G. A Dictionary of
Narratology. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press,
1987. p. 23. Prince defines this term as follows: in Proppian
terminology, a fundamental ROLE (in a fairy tale) assumable by a
character. or an event, which has a significant impact on
the course of action during a quest.

With this definition of the function, I developed a set of seventy-two
functions specifically for the quest. By allowing for variant and inverted
functions, I am able to describe most questsi.e. those that fit
my definition above. according to function. I have included an
abridged list of functions here, but a full list will be available at the
web site mentioned above.

List of Functions

A. Inception of quest (3 variants).
B. Quester accepts quest (2 variants).
c. Quester gathers companion(s) to accompany him/her on the
journey (3 variants).
D. Departure
e. Quester receives help (5 variants).
f. Quester's progress is hindered (8 variants).
g. Quester suspends quest (10 variants)
h. Quester resumes quest (2 variants).
i. Quester overcomes hindrance(s) (2 variants).
j. Arrival at destination (1 variant).
k. Quester encounters the possessorNB the "possessor"
may be a "keeper of the object". There may be more than one
possessor; under such circumstances the reader is advised to
read "possessor(s)". and/or the object of quest (8
variants).
l. Quester completes difficult task(s) and/or condition(s) are met
(2 variants).
M. Quester obtains the object of quest (8 variants).
n. Quester departs from destination (1 variant).
o. Quester returns (1 variant).

In order to clarify what a function is, I have included three examples of
functions from Aeneas' quest to the underworld in Ovid's Metamorphoses (14. 101-147):
1. A clear example: ƒe1, Aeneas asks the Sibyl for help and she
helps him.
2. A marginal example: ƒh1, Aeneas resumes his quest. We are not
told explicitly that Aeneas resumes his quest, but it is clear from
the context that he has.
3. A difficult to classify example: ƒA3/A1, we are not told
explicitly that Aeneas was pondering the quest, but his stop off at
Cumae and his actions when he arrives there, i.e. straight away he
seeks the Sibyl and begs for permission to visit his father in the
underworld, may suggest that he had contemplated this quest of his
own accord. But, at Virg. Aen. 5. 731 ff.,
we are told that Anchises' shade visits Aeneas and urges him to
travel to the underworld to see him.

[NB ƒ = function; superscript numbers are variants]
Before entering the data into a database, I found it useful to break down the
quest into four natural parts which would make it easier to refer to
different sectionsSee Propp, p. 92, who speaks of tales in terms
of moves. A move
is the development of functions which makes up a tale. of the quest:
1. Initial sequence
2. Journey outward sequence
3. Destination sequence
4. Journey homeward sequence

The sequences themselves do not overlap, but some functions may occur in all
of them, while others may only occur in a particular sequence.For example, only the functions A, B, c, e, f, g, h and i may occur in
the initial sequence.
There are several advantages to organizing quest-functions according to these
four sequences. For example, function-data can be easily grouped according
to sequence so that queries could be made for all the functions that occur
in a particular sequence. By making such queries I was able to establish a
set of functions that one could expect to find in a particular sequence.
Another advantage is that by organizing my data in this manner it was very
easy to enter data into a database. Each of these sequences could become a
field in the database, or a table in a relational model. I decided to use a
single table database and parse the output of the query on-the-fly to
extract and format the data as needed. My database contains the following fields:
1. Number, unique integer.
2. Title of quest, type text.
3. Source of quest, type text.
4. Initial sequence, type text.
5. Journey outward sequence, type text.
6. Destination sequence, type text.
7. Journey homeward sequence, type text.

The next step was to extract a list of functions for each quest and store
this data in a database with the intent that the data would be searched and
viewed in a web browser. Since the user interface would be a web browser, I
was able to add formatting HTML tags so that different aspects of the
quest-functions could be visually distinguished from the others; e.g. I used
superscript and subscript tags to designate functions and inverted functions
respectively.

Conclusion
By developing a set of narrative functions for the quest and analyzing each
quest according to function it is possible to separate form from context,
with the result that the narrative structure of themes such as the quest can
be analyzed regardless of the language of the text. This data can then be
added to a database which can be searched. Then, by querying this database,
we may not only get swift and accurate access to our data, but we may also
ask different questions of a text which could not be easily asked using
traditional means.