INTRODUCTION to EPIC POETRY

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INTRODUCTIONtoEPIC POETRY
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Early Literary Influences Historical Events
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What is Epic Poetry?

• Long narrative poem recounting actions, travels,
  adventures, and heroic episodes
• Written in an elevated style
• Celebrates the deed of a legendary hero or god.
• The deeds of the hero are presented without
  favoritism, revealing his failings as well as his
  virtues.

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What is Epic Poetry?

• The action, often in battle, reveals the
  more-than-human strength of the heroes as they
  engage in acts of courage
• The setting covers several nations, the whole
  world, or even the universe

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What is Epic Poetry?

• The episodes, even though they may be fictional,
  provide an explanation for some of the
  circumstances or events in the history of a
  nation or people
• The gods and lesser divinities play an active
  role in the outcome of actions.
• All of the various adventures form an organic
  whole, where each event relates in some way to
  the central theme.

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Epic Conventions

• Poem begins with a statement of the theme
• Invocation to a muse or other deity
• Story begins in medias res
• Catalogs (or lists of participants on each side,
  ships, sacrifices, etc)
• Histories and descriptions of significant items
  (who made a sword or shield)

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Epic Conventions

• Epic simile (a long simile where the image
  becomes an object of art in its own right as well
  as serving to clarify the subject)
• Frequent use of epithets (Aeneus the true
  tall-masted ships
• Use of patronymics (calling son by fathers name)
  Laertes son
• Long, formal speeches

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Epic Conventions

• Journey to the underworld
• Use of the number three (attempts or made three
  times, etc)
• Previous episodes in the story are recounted
  later through
• flashbacks.

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Literary Devices

• Alliteration-- repetition of of similar sounds
  especially initial consonant or stressed syllable
  (eg. Shilds strong son 23, line 19)
• Metaphor- comparison between two similar things
• Simile- Comparison using like or as

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Literary Devices Cont.

• Epithet- brief phrase characterizes a person
  place or thing (eg. the Lord or all Life, the
  Rule of glory, the Lord of heaven and earth)
• Kenning- two-word metaphorical name for something
  (eg. sea-road for ocean 30, line 239)

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Literary Elements

• Internal Conflict- Struggle that takes place
  within the mind of a character who is torn
  between opposing feelings and desires
• External Conflict- When a character struggles
  against some outside force Person, nature,
  society, or fate.