Hakon, most of the old epics tell the story from the perspective of one side and naturally make us sympathize with this side (e.g. Väinämöinen & co., not the people of Pohjola, in the Kalevala; the British, not the Irish, in the Second Branch of the Mabinogion, etc.). This is not to be confused with the issue of good and evil in a moral sense (as you realized).
I think the greatness of Homer lies in the fact that he tried to do justice to both sides (as did the author/s of the Tain, for example).
The Nibelungenlied/Volsunga Saga is interesting in that it does a turnabout in the middle: in the first half we're led to sympathize with Siegfried/Sigurd and Kriemhild/Gudrun and may tend to view Hagen/Högni as evil, but in the second half, when they're about to be butchered by the Huns, we (I, at least) sympathize with Hagen/Högni and Gunther/Gunnar and admire their bravery against huge odds.
Quote:
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There is no divine good race like the Elves of Middle Earth, or a race that is pure evil like the orcs.
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Nice observation, but don't let
davem see that
! Point being: if you look at the Elves of the Silmarillion, they are, as far as moral ambiguity is concerned, much closer to the heroes of classical mythology than the Elves of LotR (Feanor, Celegorm, Curufin, Eol, Maeglin, Saeros - heck, even Thingol in his dealing with the Dwarves!). And as for the Orcs - but that is another thread altogether.
EDIT: x-ed with
Tuor. Good point about Hector and Faramir, couldn't agree more!