What Is Apic

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 the works of Virgil, Dante Alighieri, and John Milton. Many probably would not have survived if not written down. The first epics are known as primary, or original, epics. One such epic is the Old English story Beowulf.[3] Epics that attempt to imitate these like 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 into use in the nineteenth century. It refers primarily to the erudite, shorter hexameter poems of the Hellenistic period and the similar works composed at Rome from the age of the neoterics; to a lesser degree, the term includes some poems of the English Renaissance, particularly those influenced by Ovid.[citation needed] The most famous example of classical epyllion is perhaps Catullus 64.
In the East, the most famous works of epic poetry are the Ramayana and Mahabharata, with the Iliad and the Odyssey, which form part of the Western canon, fulfilling the same function in the Western world


When we refer to epic poetry in the context of ancient literature, we usually refer to the two Greek poems attributed to
I. Homer,
1. The Iliad (about the role of Achilles in the Trojan War), and
2. The Odyssey (about the misadventures of Odysseus trying to return from the Trojan War and the shenanigans of the suitors trying to usurp his place back in Ithaca),
II. and the derivative one in Latin by Vergil,
• The Aeneid (about the travails of the Trojan prince Aeneas on his way from the Trojan War to Italy where he founds a new home for the future Romans).
These book-long poems are unlike most other poems we are familiar with, and not just for their length. They are different in that:
1. they switch around from scene to scene and
2. there is dialogue, like a play.
Epic = Drama + Narrative
Speeches make up so much of epic poems that Plato called epic poetry a mixture of dramatic and narrative literature, according to classical scholar Albin Lesky.
Oral Tradition of Epic Poetry
Lesky says the speeches might be a throwback to the oral tradition of epic, where the epic story was passed down, from master storyteller to pupil, possibly within a family. The storyteller or "rhapsode" played a lyre as he sang his improvised epic song. The epic song was composed of elements from myth and folklore welded into place by means of the rhapsode's skilled insertion of formulaic elements.
Epic Hero
The central figure of ancient epic poetry is the hero. In the 3 major ancient classical epics, the heroes are
1. the Greek Achilles, in the Iliad,
2. the Greek Odysseus in the Odyssey, and
3. the Trojan Aeneas in the Aeneid.
Characteristics of Epic Poetry
• Epic heroes come from the heroic era, which precedes the Archaic Age in ancient Greece and the founding of Rome by the legendary king Romulus.
• The heroes of epic literature are bound by a code of honor.
• The form of the epic is verse -- Dactylic Hexameters -- marking it immediately as poetry.
• The language of epic poetry is often formulaic.
• The material of epic poetry is elevated; it does not dwell on the banal details of life.
• Epic poetry tends to have catalogues. Catalogues (of things like ships or booty) tend to be long.
• Speeches are frequent.
Albin Lesky, A History of Greek Literature, translated by James Willis and Cornelis de heer. New York: Thomas Y. Cromwell Company. 1966.



The epic is generally defined: A long narrative poem on a great and serious subject, related in an elevated style, and centered on a heroic or quasi-divine figure on whose actions depends the fate of a tribe, a nation, or the human race. The traditional epics were shaped by a literary artist from historical and legendary materials which had developed in the oral traditions of his nation during a period of expansion and warfare (Beowulf, The Odyssey, The Iliad).

Epic Conventions, or characteristics common to both types include:
1. The hero is a figure of great national or even cosmic importance, usually the ideal man of his culture. He often has superhuman or divine traits. He has an imposing physical stature and is greater in all ways than the common man.
2. The setting is vast in scope. It covers great geographical distances, perhaps even visiting the underworld, other wortlds, other times.
3. The action consists of deeds of valor or superhuman courage (especially in battle).
4. Supernatural forces interest themselves in the action and intervene at times. The intervention of the gods is called "machinery."
5. The style of writing is elevated, even ceremonial.
6. Additional conventions: certainly all are not always present)
1. Opens by stating the theme of the epic.
2. 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.
3. Narrative opens in media res. This means "in the middle of things," usually with the hero at his lowest point. Earlier portions of the story appear later as flashbacks.
4. Catalogs and geneaologies are given. These long lists of objects, places, and people place the finite action of the epic within a broader, universal context. Oftentimes, the poet is also paying homage to the ancestors of audience members.
5. Main characters give extended formal speeches.
6. Use of the epic simile. A standard simile is a comparison using "like" or "as." An epic or Homeric simile is a more involved, ornate comparison, extended in great detail.
7. Heavy use of repetition and stock phrases. The poet repeats passages that consist of several lines in various sections of the epic and uses homeric epithets, short, recurrent phrases used to describe people, places, or things. Both made the poem easier to memorize.
Aristotle described six characteristics: "fable, action, characters, sentiments, diction, and meter." Since then, critics have used these criteria to describe two kinds of epics:
Serious Epic
• fable and action are grave and solemn
• characterrs are the highest
• sentiments and diction preserve the sublime
• verse Comic Epic
• fable and action are light and ridiculous
• characters are inferior
• sentiments and diction preserve the ludicrous
• verse
When the first novelists began writing what were later called novels, they thought they were writing "prose epics." Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, and Samuel Ruichardson attempted the comic form. Yet what they wrote were true novels, not epics, and there are differences.
The Epic
• oral and poetic language
• public and remarkable deeds
• historical or legendary hero
• collective enterprise
• generalized setting in time and place
• rigid traditional structure according to previous patterns Comic Epic
• written and referential language
• private, daily experiencer
• humanized "ordinary" characters
• individual enterprise
• particularized setting in time and place
• structure determined by actions of character within a moral pattern
“An extended narrative poem,
usually simple in construction, but grand in scope,
exalted in style, and heroic in theme, often giving expression to the ideals of a nation or race. ”
Sidelight: Homer, the author of The Iliad and The Odyssey, is sometimes referred to as the "Father of Epic Poetry." Based on the conventions he established, classical epics began with an argument and an invocation to a guiding spirit, then started the narrative in medias res. In modern use, the term, "epic," is generally applied to all lengthy works on matters of great importance. The Rhapsodoi, professional reciters, memorized his work and passed it on by word of mouth as part of an oral tradition.
Back to Beowulf or Assignments or Home