Epic poetry

Tablet containing a fragment of the Epic of Gilgamesh
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An epic (from the Ancient Greek adjective ἐπικός (epikos), from ἔπος (epos) "word, story, poem"[1]) is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation.[2] Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form. Nonetheless, epics have been written down at least since Homer, and the works of Virgil, Dante Alighieri, and John Milton would be unlikely to have survived without being written down. The first epics are known as primary, or original, epics. One such epic is the Anglo-Saxon story Beowulf.[3] Epics that attempt to imitate these like Virgil's Aeneid and Milton's Paradise Lost are known as literary, or secondary, epics. Another type of epic poetry is epyllion (plural: epyllia) which is a brief narrative poem with a romantic or mythological theme. The term, which means 'little epic', came in use in the nineteenth century. It refers primarily to the type of erotic and mythological long elegy of which Ovid remains the master; to a lesser degree, the term includes some poems of the English Renaissance, particularly those influenced by Ovid. One suggested example of classical epyllion may be seen in the story of Nisus and Euryalus in Book IX of Aeneid.

Contents

Oral epics or world folk epics

The first epics were products of preliterate societies and oral poetic traditions. In these traditions, poetry is transmitted to the audience and from performer to performer by purely oral means.

Early twentieth-century study of living oral epic traditions in the Balkans by Milman Parry and Albert Lord demonstrated the paratactic model used for composing these poems. What they demonstrated was that oral epics tend to be constructed in short episodes, each of equal status, interest and importance. This facilitates memorization, as the poet is recalling each episode in turn and using the completed episodes to recreate the entire epic as he performs it.

Parry and Lord also showed that the most likely source for written texts of the epics of Homer was dictation from an oral performance.

Epic: a long narrative poem in elevated stature presenting characters of high position in adventures forming an organic whole through their relation to a central heroic figure and through their development of episodes important to the history of a nation or race.

Epics have nine main characteristics:

  1. opens in medias res.
  2. The setting is vast, covering many nations, the world or the universe.
  3. begins with an invocation to a muse.
  4. starts with a statement of the theme.
  5. the use of epithets.
  6. includes long lists.
  7. features long and formal speeches.
  8. shows divine intervention on human affairs.
  9. "Star" heroes that embody the values of the civilization.

The hero generally participates in a cyclical journey or quest, faces adversaries that try to defeat him in his journey and returns home significantly transformed by his journey. The epic hero illustrates traits, performs deeds, and exemplifies certain morals that are valued by the society from which the epic originates. Many epic heroes are recurring characters in the legends of their native culture.

Conventions of epics:

  1. Praepositio: Opens by stating the theme or cause of the epic. This may take the form of a purpose (as in Milton, who proposed "to justify the ways of God to men"); of a question (as in the Iliad, which Homer initiates by asking a Muse to sing of Achilles' anger); or of a situation (as in the Song of Roland, with Charlemagne in Spain).
  2. Invocation: Writer invokes a Muse, one of the nine daughters of Zeus. The poet prays to the Muses to provide him with divine inspiration to tell the story of a great hero. (This convention is obviously restricted to cultures which were influenced by European Classical culture: the Epic of Gilgamesh, for example, or the Bhagavata Purana would obviously not contain this element)
  3. In medias res: narrative opens "in the middle of things", with the hero at his lowest point. Usually flashbacks show earlier portions of the story.
  4. Enumeratio: Catalogues and genealogies are given. These long lists of objects, places, and people place the finite action of the epic within a broader, universal context. Often, the poet is also paying homage to the ancestors of audience members.
  5. Epithet: Heavy use of repetition or stock phrases: e.g., Homer's "rosy-fingered dawn" and "wine-dark sea."

Literate societies have often copied the epic format; the earliest European examples of which the text survives are the Argonautica of Apollonius of Rhodes and Virgil's Aeneid, which follow both the style and subject matter of Homer. Other obvious examples are Nonnus' Dionysiaca, Tulsidas' Sri Ramacharit Manas.

Notable epic poems

The first page of the Beowulf manuscript
This list can be compared with two others, national epic and list of world folk-epics.[4]

Ancient epics (to 500)

(The date of compositions of Babylonian epics is often hard to determine, as they may survive on manuscripts which are much later than the first composition. There is also the complication that they underwent successive revisions and redactions.)

You can listen to Babylonian Epics being read aloud by modern scholars in the original language at http://www.speechisfire.com.

Medieval epics (500-1500)

Modern epics (from 1500)

Other epics

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=epic
  2. ↑ Michael Meyer, The Bedford Introduction to Literature, Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005, p2128. ISBN 0-312-41242-8
  3. ↑ "epic". The Columbia Encyclopedia (6 ed.). New York: Columbia University Press. 2004. 
  4. ↑ According to that article, world folk epics are those which are not just literary masterpieces but also an integral part of the world view of a people, originally oral, later written down by one or several authors.
  5. ↑ Guerber, H.A. (1913). The Book of the Epic. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott. p. 465. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/13983. "a work which some authorities rank as the first American epic" 

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Bibliography