We've already read parts of three epics in this class -- the Odyssey, the Aeneid, The Song of Roland, and the Inferno.  In Gargantua and Pantagruel, we get another epic but one that is a little different.  The selections in the anthology are very meager.  We don't get much of the story.  We don't get to see much of the plot unfold -- how Gargantua and Pantagruel are each educated, have adventures, and eventually win great renown on the battlefield.  But we get a pretty good glimpse of the heroes of this epic (Gargantua and Pantagruel) and of Rabelais's satiric tone.

So, don't worry about getting a handle on what's happening in the overall story.  Focus instead on the epic heroes and their character.  We're going to watch Gargantua and Pantagruel during a couple of their adventures, but we won't see the whole picture of their development.  We'll see enough, however, to ask how they are different from the other epic heroes we've seen.

How are Gargantua and Pantagruel different from Odysseus, Aeneas, Roland, and Dante?  We've talked about what Homer, Virgil, the author of Roland, and Dante valued.  Clearly, a hero for Homer was someone who was clever, well-mannered, and favored by the gods.  A hero for Virgil was someone who obeyed the gods, sacrificed self for the glory of Rome, and fulfilled destiny.  A hero in The Song of Roland was someone who was loyal to the king, honorable to a fault, and grand in ambition and action.  A hero for Dante was someone who acknowledged his or her own sinfulness, trusted in God, and undertook the very difficult journey toward salvation.

So, what makes someone a hero in Rabelais's eyes?  According to the selections you have from Gargantua and Pantagruel, what would you think Rabelais would consider heroic?  What does Rabelais value as important and heroic?  Have the values of European society shifted again?  If so, how?