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General Characteristics of an Epic

General Characteristics of an Epic. EPIC: A long, narrative poem—usually thousands of pages long. Examples: The Iliad The Odyssey Beowulf.

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General Characteristics of an Epic

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  1. General Characteristics of an Epic

  2. EPIC: A long, narrative poem—usually thousands of pages long. Examples: The Iliad The Odyssey Beowulf

  3. Epics generally begin with an invocation (an appeal to a higher power for assistance) to the gods or a muse (any of the nine daughters of Zeus, who were guiding spirits who ruled different arts or sciences) asking for inspiration.

  4. The Odyssey opens with the bard asking the help of a muse to tell the story.

  5. Classical epic begins in medias res (in the middle of things), at a critical point in the action, rather than at the beginning of the story.

  6. With in media res, the events that happened before the story’s opening are introduced later on. • The Odyssey begins near the end of Odysseus' journey, which begins when he leaves the shores of Troy.

  7. The Epic Setting: The setting is grand in scope, covering nations, the world, or even the universe. • The Odyssey is a journey that involves a large number of settings across the nation.

  8. The Hero: Characters are beings of national importance and historical or legendary significance. • Odysseus takes on a larger-than-life quality in the story.  These are not the deeds of a normal man.

  9. The Action: Action consists of deeds of great valor and courage.

  10. For example, Odysseus must again and again prove his ability to fight his way out of trouble, to cunningly use words, and to bravely face extreme odds.  • Both his wanderings and his return home to face the suitors are deeds of valor and courage.

  11. The Supernatural: Supernatural forces interest themselves in human action and often intervene directly.

  12. Several of the gods are involved in Odysseus' wanderings: • Hera and Poseidon keep Odysseus from returning home for several years • Zeus and Hermes at points come to Odysseus' rescue • Athena especially interests herself in every stage of Odysseus' journey home.

  13. Point of View: Often the point of view is in third person (standing outside looking in through the window) with little comment or opinion. Usually the author is objective(looks at both sides of an issue) in his presentation of the situation and characters.

  14. Figures of Speech • Epic simile: "a long, grand comparison which is so vivid that it temporarily displaces the object to which it is compared.“ • Epic similes are frequent.

  15. The epic style is marked by repetition and a pronounced use of epithets • Epithets: A term used as a descriptive substitute for the name or title of a person, such as rosy-fingered in rosy-fingered dawn or the Great in Catherine the Great.

  16. Other Important Characteristics of an Epic • Hospitality. Hospitality was critical to Greek culture. Humans were expected to take in and lavish food and care on absolutely any visitor without first asking a name or purpose of visit. (Was hospitality shown or not shown—what circumstances?)

  17. Other Important Characteristics of an Epic • Loyalty. Loyalty must be shown to kingdom, friends, comrades, family.

  18. Mythology and Allusions • An allusion is an indirect reference to a statement, person, place, event or object that is known from literature, art, cinema, music, history, religion, myth, politics, sports, science or pop culture. • 99% of all allusions come from mythology, Shakespeare, or the Bible.

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