Epic poetry
For other meanings of epic, see epic (disambiguation).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,
Epic of King Gesar, and
Journey to the West 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.
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.
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]).
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 (epic),
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*
6th to
1st century BCE:
*
Ramayana, ascribed to
Valmiki (
Hindu mythology)
*
6th century BCE to
2nd century CE:
*
Mahabharata, ascribed to
Vyasa (Hindu mythology)
*
3rd century BCE:
*
Argonautica by
Apollonius of Rhodes*
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
*
Cilappatikaram, a
South Indian epic written by
prince Ilango Adigal*
2nd to
5th century CE:
*
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
NonnusMedieval 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*
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)
*
Journey to the West by
Chinese author
Wu Cheng'en (
1590)
*
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)
*
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*
ALPAMYSH Central Asian
(prose and verse)
Táin Bó Cúailnge (
Irish mythology) (prose and verse)
Hervarar saga (
Norse mythology) (prose)
Völsunga saga (
Norse mythology) (prose)
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 (
1881) (
history)
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)
The Prelude by
William Wordsworth (long lyric biographical poem)
Der Ring des Nibelungen by
Richard Wagner (opera)
The Waste Land by
T. S. EliotThe Cantos by
Ezra Pound*
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.)
*Jan de Vries:
Heroic Song and Heroic Legend ISBN 0405105665
*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
*
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