Beginning in the middle of the action, the poet then fills in significant prior events through flashbacks or narration. Having invoked the Muse, the epic poet then begins in the middle of the tale teachers sometimes use a Latin term, in medias res ("in the middle of things"), to identify this technique. Calliope is the Muse most often associated with epic poetry. Clio is usually thought of as the Muse of history. Sometimes Muses are assigned to all the liberal arts and sciences. Certain Muses preside over song and poetry, which are joined in epics. He is not, however, without his flaws, which sometimes get him into trouble.Įpics usually open with a statement of the subject and an invocation to the Muse or Muses - the nine sister goddesses in Greek mythology, the daughters of the king of gods, Zeus, and Mnemosyne ("Memory"). Odysseus embodies many of the virtues of ancient Greek civilization and in some ways defines them. He has been gone 20 years from his homeland, his wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus. The hero is long-suffering Odysseus, king of Ithaca and surrounding islands and hero of the Trojan War. Citations are by book and line for example, line 47 in Book 3 is represented as (3.47).Ĭomposed around 700 BC, The Odyssey is one of the earliest epics still in existence and, in many ways, sets the pattern for the genre, neatly fitting the definition of a primary epic (that is, one that grows out of oral tradition). Note: References throughout are to Robert Fagles' poetic translation, Homer: The Odyssey (New York: Penguin Putnam Inc., 1996). They are written from their inception and designed to appear as whole stories. Secondary epics, on the other hand, are literary. The first, the primary epic, evolves from the mores, legends, or folk tales of a people and is initially developed in an oral tradition of storytelling. Increasingly, scholars distinguish between two types of epic. It typically emphasizes heroic action as well as the struggle between the hero's ethos and his human failings or mortality. The word "epic" itself comes from the Greek épos, originally meaning "word" but later "oration" or "song." Like all art, an epic may grow out of a limited context but achieves greatness in relation to its universality. The epic celebrates virtues of national, military, religious, political, or historical significance. An epic is a long narrative poem in an elevated style that deals with the trials and achievements of a great hero or heroes.
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