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, and Shahnama 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.

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

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 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 (pray to the muse ), 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 attributives of the hero)

Notable epic poems

Ancient epics (to 600)

• 20th century BC: The Epic of Gilgamesh (Sumerian mythology)
• 19th century BC (traditional date): Ramayana (Hindu mythology)
• 1316 BC (traditional date): Mahabharata (Hindu mythology).
• 8th century BC:
  • The Iliad by Homer (Greek mythology)
  • The Odyssey by Homer (Greek mythology)
• Epic Cycle (dates uncertain):
  • Titanomachy
  • Theban Cycle
    • Oedipodea by Cinaethon
    • Thebaid
    • Epigoni by Antimachus of Colophon
    • Alcmeonis
  • Cypria
  • Aethiopis by Arctinus of Miletus
  • Little Iliad by Lesches
  • Iliupersis or Sack of Ilium
  • Nostoi
  • Telegony
• Non-cyclic Epic
  • Batrachomyomachia (Battle of
    
    
    
    the Frogs and Mice)
• 3rd century BC:
  • Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes
• 2nd century BC:
  • Annales by Ennius
• 1st century BC:
  • Aeneid by Virgil
  • Metamorphoses by Ovid
• 1st century
  • 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
• 6th century:
  • Manimekalai

Medieval Epics (600-1500)

• 8th to 10th century:
  • Beowulf (Anglo-Saxon mythology)
• 10th century:
  • Shahnama by Firdausi
  • Bhagavata Purana (Sanskrit "Stories of the Lord")
• 11th century:
  • 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
• 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)
  • 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

Prose "Epics"

• 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)
• Moby-Dick by Herman Melville (prose 1851)
• 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)

Other "Epics"

• Poetic Edda (Norse mythology) (collection of poems, only some narrative)
• 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

• Heroic Song and Heroic Legend by Jan de Vries ISBN 0405105665

Episk Epos Έπος Epopeya Eposo Épopée Eepos Epiko Epos שירה אפית Liroepika Epika Epiek Epikk 叙事詩 Epos Эпос Epos Ep Епика 史诗