Epic poetry

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For other meanings of epic, see epic (disambiguation).

Template:Literature 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, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Shahnama and 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.

Contents 1 Oral epics or world folk epics 2 Epics in literate societies 3 Notable epic poems 3.1 Ancient epics (to 500) 3.2 Medieval Epics (500-1500) 3.3 Modern Epics (from 1500) 4 Prose "Epics" 5 Other "Epics" 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

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.

See also list of world folk-epics.

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 [of 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

Ancient epics (to 500)

• 20th century BC:
  • The Epic of Gilgamesh (Mesopotamian mythology)
• 15th to 10th century BC:
  • Rigveda (Vedic mythology)
• 10th to 6th century BC:
  • 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 (epic), Alcmeonis
    • Others: Titanomachy, Heracleia, Capture of Oechalia, Naupactia, Phocais, Minyas, Danais
• 6th to 4th century BC:
  • Lost Greek epics: poems by Aristeas (Arimaspeia), Asius of Samos, Chersias of Orchomenus
• 6th to 1st century BC:
  • Ramayana, ascribed to Valmiki (Hindu mythology)
• 6th century BC to 2nd century AD:
  • Mahabharata, ascribed to Vyasa (Hindu mythology)
• 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 Template:Unicode
  • Cilappatikaram, a South Indian epic written by prince Ilango Adigal
• 2nd to 5th century AD:
  • Manimegalai by Seethalai Saathanar
  • Jeevaga-chintamani by Tirutakakatevar
  • Valayapati by a Jaina Tamil poet
  • Kundalakesi by a Buddhist Tamil poet
• 3rd century:
  • Posthomerica by Quintus of Smyrna
• 5th century:
  • Dionysiaca by Nonnus

Medieval Epics (500-1500)

• 6th century:
  • Manimekalai

• 8th to 10th century:
  • Beowulf fictional retelling of Germanic myths
• 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)
  • Epic of Manas (possibly later)
• 12th century:
  • The Knight in the Panther Skin by Shota Rustaveli
• 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
• 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)

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)
  • 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)
  • Hyperion by John Keats (1818)
  • L'Orléanide, Poème national en vingt-huit chants, by Philippe-Alexandre Le Brun de Charmettes (1821)
  • 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)
  • The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1855)
  • Clarel by Herman Melville (1876)
  • Canigó by Jacint Verdaguer (1886)
• 20th century:
  • Lahuta e Malcís by Gjergj Fishta (1902-1937)
  • Mensagem by Fernando Pessoa
  • 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

Prose "Epics"

• ALPAMYSH Central Asian [1] (prose and verse)

• Táin Bó Cúailnge (Irish mythology) (prose and verse)
• Hervarar saga (Norse mythology) (prose)
• Völsunga saga (Norse mythology) (prose)
• Journey to the West by Chinese author Wu Cheng'en (1590)
• Don Quixote Parts I & II by Miguel de Cervantes (prose 1605/1615)
• The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding (prose 1749)
• Moby-Dick by Herman Melville (prose 1851)
• Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (prose 1862)
• War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (prose 1869)
• Venezuela Heroica, by Eduardo Blanco (history 1881)
• Ulysses by James Joyce (prose 1922)
• The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (prose 1954)
• The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien (prose 1977)
• Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon (prose 1997)

Other "Epics"

• The Prelude by William Wordsworth (long lyric biographical poem)
• Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner (opera)
• The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot
• The Cantos by Ezra Pound

See also

• Indian epic poetry
• Hebrew and Jewish epic poetry
• Duma (Ukrainian epic)
• List of world folk-epics
• National epic
• Byzantine Empire - Digenes Akritas (11th/12th Century C.E.)

References

• Jan de Vries: Heroic Song and Heroic Legend ISBN 0-405-10566-5
• Cornel Heinsdorff:Christus, Nikodemus und die Samaritanerin bei Juvencus. Mit einem Anhang zur lateinischen Evangelienvorlage (= Untersuchungen zur antiken Literatur und Geschichte, Bd.67), Berlin/ New York 2003 ISBN 3-11-017851-6

External links

• WorldChronicle.netbg:Епос

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