ABSTRACT
Set in the years 1912-22, this four-volume novel offers a panoramic view of the Don Cossacks' life in times of peace, war, and revolution. Like The Iliad, Quiet Flows the Don deals with momentous historical events and has a heroic central character endowed with dignity and formidable martial skills. Both works abound in fierce military engagements, presenting gore and suffering in a calm epic manner. Furthermore, both works vividly depict the grief of those whose sons or husbands perished in combat. However, similarities between Quiet Flows the Don and The Iliad stem not from Sholokhov's borrowing from Homer, but from a subject matter furnished by analogous historical situations and from an authorial predilection for the portrayal of battles.
