Epic Poetry

The epic is a broadly defined Genre of Narrative Poetry , characterized by great length, multiple settings, large numbers of characters, or long span of time involved. As a result of this change in the use of the word, many prose works of the past may be retroactively called "epics" which were not composed or originally understood as such. A work need not be written to qualify as an epic, although even the works of such great poets as Homer , Dante Alighieri , and John Milton would be unlikely to have survived without being written down.

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 studies 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 6 main characteristics:
# the hero is of imposing stature, of national or international importance, and of great historical or legendary significance
# the setting is vast, covering many nations, the worlds or the universe
# the action consists of deeds of great valor or requiring superhuman courage
# supernatural forces--gods, angels, demons--interest themselves in the action
# a style of sustained elevation is used
# the poet retains a measure of objectivity

Conventions of Epics:
# Opens by stating the theme or subject matter of the epic
# 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 Classical culture: the Epic Of Gilgamesh , for example, or the Bhagavata Purana would obviously not contain this element)
# Narrative opens ''in medias res'', or in the middle of things, usually with the hero at his lowest point. Usually flashbacks show earlier portions of the story.
# 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. Oftentimes, the poet is also paying homage to the ancestors of audience members.
# Main characters give extended formal speeches.
# Use of the epic simile
# Heavy use of repetition or stock phrases.

EPICS IN LITERATE SOCIETIES

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 '', which follows the style and subject matter of Valmiki 's '' Ramayana '', and the Persian epic '' Shahnama '' by Ferdowsi .

Classical epic conventions include:

Invocation (prayer to the inspiring muse the epic ), '' Praepositio '' (introduction of the epic's theme), '' Enumeratio '' (counting the fighting heroes and their armies), the principles termed " In Medias Res " (starting from the middle of an event), Deus Ex Machina (divine intervention), '' Anticipatio '' (prediction), and Epithet (permanent attributes of a heroic figure).

NOTABLE EPIC POEMS

This list can be compared with two others,

Ancient epics (to 500)

20th Century BC :

---'' Epic Of Gilgamesh '' ( Mesopotamian Mythology )

18th Century BC :

---'' Atrahasis '' (Mesopotamian mythology)

8th to 6th Century BC :

---'' Enuma Elish '' ( Babylonian Mythology )

---'' Iliad '', ascribed to Homer ( Greek Mythology )

---'' Odyssey '', ascribed to Homer (Greek mythology)

---'' Works And Days '', ascribed to Hesiod (Greek mythology)

---''Jaya'', ascribed to Vyasa ( Hindu Mythology )

---Lost Greek epics ascribed to the Cyclic Poets :

-- Epic Cycle including '' Cypria '', '' Aethiopis '', '' Little Iliad '', '' Sack Of Troy '', '' Return From Troy '', '' Telegony ''

-- Theban Cycle including ''Oedipodea'', '' Thebaid '', '' Epigoni (epic) '', '' Alcmeonis ''

--Others: '' Titanomachy '', ''Heracleia'', ''Capture of Oechalia'', '' Naupactia '', ''Phocais'', '' Minyas '', ''Danais''

7th to 5th Century BC :

---''Bharata'', ascribed to Vaisampayana (Hindu mythology)

6th to 4th Century BC :

---'' Mahabharata '', ascribed to Ugrasravas (Hindu mythology)

---'' Ramayana '', ascribed to Valmiki (Hindu mythology)

---Lost Greek epics: poems by Aristeas (''Arimaspeia''), Asius Of Samos , Chersias of Orchomenus

---The Book Of Job

3rd Century BC :

---'' Argonautica '' by Apollonius Of Rhodes

2nd Century BC :

---'' Annales '' by Ennius

1st Century BC :

---'' De Rerum Natura '' (''On the Nature of Things'') by Lucretius

---'' Aeneid '' by Virgil

1st Century AD :

---'' Metamorphoses '' by Ovid

---'' Pharsalia '' (''Bellum Civile'' or Civil War ) by Lucan

---''Punica'' (''Bellum Punicum'' or Punic War ) by Silius Italicus

---'' Argonautica '' by Gaius Valerius Flaccus

---'' Thebaid '' by Statius

2nd Century :

---'' Buddhacarita '' by ( Indian Epic Poetry )

---''Saundaranandakavya'' by (Indian epic poetry)

2nd to 5th Century :

--- The Five Great Epics Of Tamil Literature :

--'' Cilappatikaram '' by Prince Ilango Adigal

--'' Manimekalai '' by Seethalai Saathanar

--'' Civaka Cintamani '' by Tirutakakatevar

--'' Kundalakesi '' by a Buddhist poet

--''Valayapati'' by a Jaina poet

3rd Century :

---''Posthomerica'' by Quintus Of Smyrna

4th Century :

---''Evangeliorum libri'' by Juvencus

---'' Kumārasambhava '' by Kālidāsa ( Indian Epic Poetry )

---'' Raghuvamsa '' by Kālidāsa (Indian epic poetry)

5th Century :

---'' Dionysiaca '' by Nonnus

Medieval Epics (500-1500)

8th to 10th Century :

---'' Beowulf '' (retelling of Anglo-Saxon legends)

---'' Waldere '', Old English version of the story told in ''Waltharius'' (below), known only as a brief fragment

9th Century :

---'' Bhagavata Purana '' ( Sanskrit "''Stories of the Lord''") written from earlier sources

---'' David Of Sasun '' ( Armenian Language )

10th Century :

--- '' Shahnameh '' ( Persian Mythology ) (epic poem detailing Persian legend and history from prehistoric times to the fall of the Sassanid Empire )

---'' Waltharius '' by Ekkehard of St Gall, Latin version of the story of Walter Of Aquitaine

---'' The Battle Of Maldon '', brief Old English epic describing a recent battle

11th Century :

---'' Poetic Edda '' ( Norse Mythology ) (collection of poems of Norse mythology from various sources; dates of composition vary within the collection, but the majority of poems existed before the 12th century based on the excerpts in the Prose Edda )

---'' Ruodlieb '', Latin epic by a German author

---'' Digenis Akritas '' ( Byzantine epic poem)

---'' La Chanson De Roland '' ('' The Song Of Roland '')

---'' Epic Of King Gesar '' ( Tibetan epic; compiled from earlier sources)

---'' Epic Of Manas '' ( Kyrgyz epic, possibly later)

12th Century :

---'' The Knight In The Panther Skin '' by Shota Rustaveli

---'' Alexandreis '', Latin epic by Walter Of Châtillon

---'' De Bello Troiano '' and the lost '' Antiocheis '' by Joseph Of Exeter

---'' Carmen De Prodicione Guenonis '' (Latin version of the story of the ''Song of Roland'')

---'' Architrenius '', satirical Latin epic by John Of Hauville

---'' Liber Ad Honorem Augusti '' by Peter Of Eboli , Latin narrative of the conquest of Sicily by Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor

13th Century :

---'' Nibelungenlied '' ( Germanic Mythology )

---'' Brut '' by Layamon

---'' Chanson De La Croisade Albigeoise '' ("Song of the Albigensian Crusade"; Occitan )

---'' Epic Of Sundiata ''

---'' El Cantar De Mio Cid '', Spanish epic of the Reconquista

---'' De Triumphis Ecclesiae '', Latin literary epic by Johannes De Garlandia

---'' Parzival '' by Wolfram Von Eschenbach

14th Century :

---'' Cursor Mundi '' by an Anonymous cleric (c. 1300 )

---'' Divina Commedia '' (''The Divine Comedy'') by Dante Alighieri

---'' Africa '', Latin literary epic by Petrarch

---'' The Tale Of The Heike '' ( Japanese epic war tale)

15th Century :

---'' Alliterative Morte Arthure ''

---'' Orlando Innamorato '' by Matteo Maria Boiardo ( 1495 )

Modern Epics (from 1500)

16th Century :

---'' Orlando Furioso '' by Ludovico Ariosto ( 1516 )

---'' Os Lusíadas '' by Luís De Camões (c. 1555 )

---'' La Gerusalemme Liberata '' by Torquato Tasso ( 1575 )

---'' Ramacharitamanasa '' (based on the '' Ramayana '') by Goswami Tulsidas ( 1577 )

---''Lepanto'' by King James VI Of Scotland ( 1591 )

---''Matilda'' by Michael Drayton ( 1594 )

---'' The Faerie Queene '' by Edmund Spenser ( 1596 )

17th Century :

---'' The Barons' Wars '' by Michael Drayton ( 1603 ; early version 1596 entitled ''Mortimeriados'')

---'' Szigeti Veszedelem '', also known under the Latin title ''Carmen Obsidionis Szigetianae'', a Hungarian epic by Miklós Zrínyi ( 1651 )

---'' Paradise Lost '' by John Milton ( 1667 )

---'' Paradise Regained '' by John Milton ( 1671 )

---''Prince Arthur'' by Richard Blackmore ( 1695 )

---''King Arthur'' by Richard Blackmore ( 1697 )

18th Century :

---''Eliza'' by Richard Blackmore ( 1705 )

---''Redemption'' by Richard Blackmore ( 1722 )

---''Henriade'' by Voltaire ( 1723 )

---''Alfred'' by Richard Blackmore ( 1723 )

---'' Utendi Wa Tambuka '' by Bwana Mwengo ( 1728 )

---''Leonidas'' by Richard Glover ( 1737 )

---''Epigoniad'' by William Wilkie ( 1757 )

---''The Works of Ossian '' by James MacPherson ( 1765 )

---'' Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire ''
-- by Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill ( 1773 )

---''Der Messias'' by Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock ( 1773 )

---''Rossiada'' by Mikhail Matveyevich Kheraskov ( 1771 - 1779 )

---''Vladimir'' by Mikhail Matveyevich Kheraskov ( 1785 )

---''Athenaid'' by Richard Glover ( 1787 )

19th Century :

---''Columbiad'' by Joel Barlow ( 1807 )

---'''' by William Blake ( 1804 - 1810 )

---'' The Revolt Of Islam (Laon And Cyntha) '' by Percy Bysshe Shelley ( 1817 )

---'' Endymion '', ( 1818 ) by John Keats

---'' Hyperion '', ( 1818 ), and '' The Fall Of Hyperion '', ( 1819 ) by John Keats

---''L'Orléanide, Poème national en vingt-huit chants'', by Philippe-Alexandre Le Brun De Charmettes ( 1821 )

---'' Don Juan '' by Lord Byron ( 1824 )

---'' Pan Tadeusz '' by Adam Mickiewicz ( 1834 )

---''Smrt Smail-age Čengića'' by Ivan Mažuranić ( 1846 )

---'' Kalevala '' by Elias Lönnrot ( 1849 Finnish Mythology )

---'' Kalevipoeg '' by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald ( 1853 Estonian Mythology )

---'' The Prelude '' by William Wordsworth

---'' The Song Of Hiawatha '' by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ( 1855 )

---'' La Fin De Satan '' by Victor Hugo (written between 1855 and 1860 , published in 1886 )

---'' La Légende Des Siècles '' (''The Legend of the Centuries'') by Victor Hugo ( 1859 - 1877 )

---'' Martín Fierro by José Hernández ( 1872 )

---'' Clarel '' by Herman Melville ( 1876 )

---''Canigó'' by Jacint Verdaguer ( 1886 )

20th Century :

---''Lahuta e Malcís'' by Gjergj Fishta (composed 1902 - 1937 )

---'' The Ballad Of The White Horse '' by G K Chesterton (1911)

---'' Mensagem '' by Fernando Pessoa

---''The Hashish-Eater; Or, The Apocalypse of Evil'' by Clark Ashton Smith (1920)

---'' Savitri '' by Aurobindo Ghose ( 1950 )

---''Astronautilía-Hvězdoplavba'' by Jan Křesadlo

---'''' by Nikos Kazantzakis ( Greek verse, composed 1924 - 1938 )

---'' The Cantos '' by Ezra Pound (composed 1915 - 1969 )

---'' A Cycle Of The West '' by John Neihardt (composed 1921 - 1949 )

---''"A"'' by Louis Zukofsky (composed 1928 - 1968 )

---'' Paterson '' by William Carlos Williams (composed c. 1940 - 1961 )

---''The Maximus Poems'' by Charles Olson (composed 1950 - 1970 )

---'' Aniara '' by Harry Martinson (composed 1956 )

---''Libretto for the Republic of Liberia'' by Melvin B. Tolson (1953)

---''Mountains and Rivers Without End'' by Gary Snyder (composed 1965 - 1996 )

---'' The Changing Light At Sandover '' by James Merrill (composed 1976 - 1982 )

---'' Omeros '' by Derek Walcott ( 1990 )

---''The Descent of Alette'' by Alice Notley ( 1996 )

---''Cheikh Anta Diop: Poem for the Living'' by Mwatabu S. Okantah (1997)

OTHER "EPICS"

''The Anathemata'' by David Jones ( 1952 )

'' The Waste Land '' and '' Four Quartets '' by T. S. Eliot

'' Der Ring Des Nibelungen '' by Richard Wagner (opera)

'' Parsifal '' by Richard Wagner (opera)

	CATEGORIES ABOUT EPIC POETRY

	epics

	poetic form

	narrative poems

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Epic Poetry