does anyone know something that king arthur did that was dishonorable? Did he do anything bad?

Question

I am trying to prove that growing up in deceit made him do dishonorable things too. Or something.

Answer 1

It depends on which versions of the legend you like to believe, but in various versions he:
* Slept with his half-sister
* Ordered the mass slaughter of babies to try to kill the offspring of that union.
* Ordered that his wife be burnt at the stake (several times in some versions).
* Declared war on his most loyal lieutenant (who admittedly was sleeping with Arthur's wife).
* Killed his only son (although there are extenuating circumstances for that too).

In most versions of the story, when Guinevere gets kidnapped by Melwas, it is Lancelot who has to go and rescue her, not Arthur. That would have counted as a huge loss of face, and hence honour, for Arthur back in the middle ages, but probably doesn't rate as a big deal these days.

Answer 2

The earliest known *written* legends about Arthur are in the Welsh book 'The Mabinogian', which is available in an English translation. Later legends made him a British commander (*not* 'king') who unified the British to stave off the Saxon invasions. Later still, Chretien de Troyes and Sir Thomas Malory added characters such as Lancelot, and gave unsubstantiated motivations to Mordred (aka Modred and Medraut) and other characters. The most recent incarnations are in 'The Idylls of the King' by Tennyson, 'The Once and Future King' by T.H. White (which inspired both Disney's 'The Sword in the Stone' and Lerner and Loewe's 'Camelot'), and Mary Stewart's Merlin tetralogy, beginning with 'The Crystal Cave'. This last blends legend with historical fact, and is the best interpretation I've found so far.

That said, you are way off base in your theory. Anything 'dishonorable' later legends attribute to him were done in ignorance and innocence, if you believe they happened at all.

Answer 3

The only thing I can think of, is that in some versions, he was tricked into sleeping with his sister, who was an evil witch. He thought he was with the woman he loved, he was drugged by an evil sorceress or something. However, it didn't make him do anything bad that I know of, except seems like he had to kill the boy later on, not sure. The boy grew up to be a mean ********!

Answer 4

What do you mean by growing up in deceit? And I dont see how your going to prove something using fairytale characters haha. Why not prove elephants can fly with dumbo.

Answer 5

All kings do a great deal of bad things otherwise the would never rise to the throne at all

Answer 6

Well, he was going to have his wife executed... That seems pretty harsh/unjust to me, but maybe at the time it wouldn't have been considered "dishonorable."

Answer 7

he had incest!!!!!!!