Epic Poetry

1
Epic Poetry

• long narrative poem presenting adventures on a
  grand, historic scale
• united through a central figure of epic
  proportions
• often following episodes that contribute to the
  formation of a race or nation
• generally involves many great deeds and is set in
  many locations across a wide area
• extended examples of human situations
• used to teach the virtues of the culture
• often impersonal, elevated formal verse
• often based on oral traditions, written down in
  Latin manuscripts during the Middle Ages and
  Renaissance

2
EPIC CONVENTIONS

• beginning in medias res
• invocation of the Muse
• Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story
  of that man skilled in all ways of contending
• statement of epic purpose
• Homeric or epic similes
• supernatural forces (gods and goddesses) often
  influence characters (leads to common theme of
  fate vs. free will)

3
ORAL PROPS

• common characteristics of Gods and heroes
• common stories
• Repetition
• wine-dark sea
• epithets
• Laertes son

4
epic hero

• a well-known character of high social position
  whose qualities represent those valuable to his
  or her society
• must be clever and crafty to deal with the
  monsters and obstacles he faces
• often seems almost superhuman in strength and
  intelligence
• is not perfect
• often struggles to overcome human weaknesses,
  such as pride (hubris) or temptation