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1. Epics

   22.May.07, 12:57 EDT
   
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   Epics
   
   An Epic is a long narrative poem, majestic both in theme and style. Epics deal with legendary or historical events of national or universal significance, involving action of broad sweep and grandeur. Most epics deal with the exploits of a single individual, thereby giving unity to the composition. Typically, an epic involves the introduction of supernatural forces that shape the action, conflict in the form of battles or other physical combat, and certain stylistic conventions: an invocation to the Muse, a formal statement of the theme, long lists of the protagonists involved, and set speeches couched in elevated language. Commonplace details of everyday life may appear, but they serve as background for the story, and are described in the same lofty style as the rest of the poem.
   
   The Greeks distinguished epic from lyric poetry, both by its nature and its manner of delivery; lyric poetry expressed more personal emotion than epic poetry and was sung, whereas epic poetry was recited .
   
   Epic poems are not merely entertaining stories of legendary or historical heroes; they summarize and express the nature or ideals of an entire nation at a significant or crucial period of its history. Examples are the ancient Greek epics the Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer. The characteristics of the hero of an epic are national rather than individual, and the exercise of those traits in heroic deeds serves to gratify a sense of national pride. At other times epics may synthesize the ideals of a great religious or cultural movement. The Divine Comedy (1307-21), expresses the faith of medieval Christianity. The Faerie Queene (1590-1609) by the English poet Edmund Spensernot strictly an epic according to some criticsrepresents the spirit of the Renaissance in England, and, like Paradise Lost (1667) by the English poet John Milton, represents the ideals of Christian humanism.
   
   Folk Epics.
   Epic verse may be classified either as folk or as literary epic. Folk, or popular, epics are believed to have developed from the orally transmitted folk poetry of tribal bards or other authors, and were eventually written down by anonymous poets. Well-known examples of the folk epic are the Anglo-Saxon BEOWULF,, the German NIBELUNGENLIED, (Song of the Nibelungs), and the Indian epics, the MAHABHARATA (Great Story) and the RAMAYANA (Story of Rama) (qq.v.). The story material appearing in folk epics is usually based on legends or events that occurred a long time before the epic itself appeared. The characters and episodes that appear in many folk epics had, in several cases, been treated in folk songs before the epic was composed. Examples of this consolidation of material are the French folk epics known as CHANSONS DE GESTE (q.v.), or songs of heroic deeds, composed from the end of the 10th to the middle or end of the 11th century, the most famous of which is the Chanson de Roland (The Song of Roland, c. 1100).
   
   In some cultures the popular epic material has never actually been gathered together into an epic. The Celts produced extended cycles of epic poems, notably the Fenian, or Ossianic, Cycle (see OSSIAN AND OSSIANIC BALLADS,) and the Arthurian Cycle (see ARTHURIAN LEGEND,) but developed no single great poem using this or similar material. Spain has a national heroic figure, El Cid, but, with the exception of the Poema del Cid (c. 1140) the ballads and poems about him never achieved epic proportions.
   
   Literary Epics.
   Literary, or art, epics are the creation of known poets who consciously employ a long-established form. Like folk epics they deal with the traditions, mythical or historical, of a nation. The Iliad and the Odyssey are regarded as literary epics (see HOMER,). In Rome, national epic poetry reached its highest achievement in the 1st century bc in Vergil's Aeneid, one of the world's greatest literary epics. In Persia, the poet Firdausi, drawing upon historical sources, composed the Persian national epic Sh[amacr ]h-N[amacr ]mah, or Book of Kings (1010). Among the great literary epics of postclassical Europe are The Lusiads (1572; trans. 1655), the national epic of Portugal, by Luís (Vaz) de Camões; the Italian Orlando furioso (Mad Roland, first version 1516; final version 1532) by Lodovico Ariosto, and Rinaldo (1562) and Jerusalem Delivered (1581; trans. 1600) by Torquato Tasso; as well as The Faerie Queene and Paradise Lost.
   
   The epic form, apparently more suited to eras of profound religious faith and nationalistic idealism, has been little practiced since the 18th century. The Dynasts (1903-8), a long verse-drama by the English writer Thomas Hardy, may be considered a modern example.
   
   The Mock Epic.
   A type of epic derived from the serious epic is the mock epic, which satirizes contemporary ideas or conditions in a form and style burlesquing the serious epic. Among noted mock epics is The Rape of the Lock (1712) by the English poet Alexander Pope. Several novels also fall into this category, among them such works as Joseph Andrews (1742), described by its author, the English novelist Henry Fielding, as "a comic epic...in prose."
   
   For additional information on individual authors, see biographies of those whose names are not followed by dates.
   
   For further information on this topic, see the Bibliography, sections 819. Poetry, 849. Classical literature-853. Indian literature.
   
   An article from Funk & Wagnalls® New Encyclopedia. © 2007 World Almanac Education Group. A WRC Media Company. All rights reserved. Except as otherwise permitted by written agreement, uses of the work inconsistent with U.S. and applicable foreign copyright and related laws are prohibited.
   
   © 2007 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved. Used under authorization.