Epic poetry

From The Book of THoTH (Leaves of Wisdom)

The epic is a broadly defined genre of poetry, and one of the major forms of narrative literature. It retells in a continuous narrative the life and works of a heroic or mythological person or group of persons. In the West, the Iliad, Odyssey, and the Nibelungenlied; and in the East, the Mahabharata, Ramayana, , Shahnama and the Tibetan Epic of King Gesar are often cited as examples of the epic genre. The composition of epic poetry, or of long poems in general, has become uncommon in the Western world since the early 20th century. The term "epic" however has been recycled to refer to prose works, films, and similar works which are 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 called "epics" which were not composed or originally understood as such.

1 Oral epics or world folk epics
2 Epics in literate societies
3 Notable epic poems
4 Prose "Epics"
5 Other "Epics"
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

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Oral epics or world folk epics

The first epics are associated strongly with preliterate societies and oral poetic traditions. In these traditions, poetry is transmitted to the audience and from performer to performer by purely oral means. World folk epics are those epics which are not just literary masterpieces but also an integral part of the world view of a people. They were originally oral literatures, which were later written down by either single author or several writers.

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 memorisation, as the poet is recalling each episode and using them to recreate the entire epic as they perform 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.

Epics in literate societies

Literate societies have often copied the epic format; the earliest known European example is Virgil's Aeneid, which follows both the style and subject matter of Homer. Other obvious examples are Tulsidas' Sri Ramacharit Manas, following the style and subject matter of Valmiki's Ramayana,. and the Persian epic Shahnama by Ferdowsi.

Classical epic conventions include:

Invocatio (prayer to the muse [of the epic]), Prepositio (introduction of the epic's theme), Enumeratio (counting the fighting armys / heroes), In medias res (start from the middle of an event), Deus ex machina (interruption / miracle from a god), Anticipatio (prediction), and Ephiteton ornans (permanent attributes of the hero[es]).

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Notable epic poems

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Ancient epics (to 500)

20th century BCE: The Epic of Gilgamesh (Sumerian mythology)
8th to 6th century BCE:
- The Iliad, ascribed to Homer (Greek mythology)
- The Odyssey, ascribed to Homer (Greek mythology)
- Lost Greek epics ascribed to the Cyclic poets:
  - Trojan War cycle including Cypria, Aethiopis, Little Iliad, Sack of Troy, Return from Troy, Telegony
  - Theban Cycle including Oedipodea, Thebaid, Epigoni, Alcmeonis
  - Others: Titanomachy, Heracleia, Capture of Oechalia, Naupactia, Phocais, Minyas, Danais
- 6th to 4th century BCE:
  - Lost Greek epics: poems by Aristeas (Arimaspeia), Asius of Samos, Chersias of Orchomenus
3rd century BCE:
- Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes
2nd century BCE to 2nd century CE:
- Mahabharata (Hindu mythology)
- Ramayana (Hindu mythology)
2nd century BCE:
- Annales by Ennius
1st century BCE:
- Aeneid by Virgil
- Metamorphoses by Ovid
1st century CE:
- 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 Aśvaghoṣa
- Cilappatikaram, a South Indian epic written by prince Ilango Adigal
3rd century:
- Posthomerica by Quintus of Smyrna
5th century:
- Dionysiaca by Nonnus

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Medieval Epics (500-1500)

6th century:
- Manimekalai

8th to 10th century:
- Beowulf (Anglo-Saxon mythology)
10th century:
- Shahnama by Firdowsi
- Bhagavata Purana (Sanskrit "Stories of the Lord")
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)
- Digenis Akritas (Byzantine epic poem)
- La Chanson de Roland (The Song of Roland)
- Epic of King Gesar (Tibetan; compiled in 11th century from earlier sources)
12th century:
- The Knight in the Panther Skin by Shota Rustaveli
13th century:
- Nibelungenlied (Germanic mythology)
- Brut by Layamon
- Epic of Sundiata
14th century:
- Cursor Mundi by an anonymous cleric (c. 1300)
- Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy) by Dante Alighieri
- The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
- The Tale of the Heike (Japanese epic war tale)
15th century:
- Alliterative Morte Arthure
- Orlando Innamorato by Matteo Maria Boiardo (1495)

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Modern Epics (from 1500)

16th century:
- Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto (1516)
- Os Lusíadas by Luis de Camões (c.1555)
- La Gerusalemme liberata by Torquato Tasso (1575)
- Ramacharitamanasa (based on the Ramayana) by Goswami Tulsidas (1577)
- The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser (1596)
17th century:
- Obsidio Szigetianae ("Szigeti veszedelem"; Hungarian) 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)
- Leonidas by Richard Glover (1737)
- Epigoniad by William Wilkie (1757)
- The Works of Ossian by James MacPherson (1765)
- 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)
- Hyperion by John Keats (1818)
- Don Juan by George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (1824)
- Pan Tadeusz by Adam Mickiewicz (1834)
- Smrt Smail-age Čengića by Ivan Mažuranić (1846)
- Kalevala by Elias Lönnrot (1849 Finnish mythology)
- Clarel by Herman Melville (1876)
- Canigó by Jacint Verdaguer (1886)
20th century:
- Lahuta e Malcís by Gjergj Fishta (1902-1937)
- Savitri by Aurobindo Ghose (1950)
- The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel by Nikos Kazantzakis
- The Anathemata by David Jones
- Maximus by Charles Olson
- Paterson by William Carlos Williams
- The Changing Light at Sandover by James Merrill
- A Cycle of the West by John Neihardt (1949)
- Astronautilía-Hvězdoplavba by Jan Křesadlo