A Story of Epic Proportions: What makes a

Poem an Epic?

Introduction

Some of the most well known, and most important, works of literature in the world are examples
of epic poetry. These heroic adventure tales have often had surprising durability over time, such
as Homer's story of love and heroism, The Iliad, which continues its life in the modern film Troy.
Epic poems are more than simply a lengthy story told in poetic form, and their ability to remain
accessible, relevant, and remembered over time owes a significant debt to their roots in an oral
tradition and to their cyclical pattern of events.

This lesson will introduce students to the epic poem form and to its roots in oral tradition.
Students will learn about the epic hero cycle and will learn how to recognize this pattern of
events and elements- even in surprisingly contemporary places. Students will also be introduced
to the patterns embedded in these stories that have helped generations of storytellers remember
these immense poems.

Learning Objectives

After completing this lesson, students will be able to:

•
Define epic poetry and be able to identify and describe the epic hero cycle.

•
Identify elements of epic poetry, including the epic hero cycle, in stories they know
already.

•
Describe the way that narrative structures such as the epic hero cycle help bards in the
remembering and telling of these immense and complicated works.
Guiding Questions:

•
What is an epic poem, and how does it differ from other kinds of poetry or storytelling?

•
How have epic poems traditionally been transmitted from generation to generation?

•
How do tellers remember these long and complicated stories?
A Story of Epic Proportions: What makes a
Poem an Epic?
A. What are the elements of an epic poem? READ THE DESCRIPTION BELOW

Epic. An extended narrative poem recounting actions, travels, adventures, and heroic
episodes and written in a high style (with ennobled diction, for example). It may be written
in hexameter verse, especially dactylic hexameter, and it may have twelve books or twenty
four books. Characteristics of the classical epic include these:
• The main character or protagonist is heroically larger than life, often the source and
subject of legend or a national hero
• The deeds of the hero are presented without favoritism, revealing his failings as well
as his virtues
• The action, often in battle, reveals the more-than-human strength of the heroes as
they engage in acts of heroism and courage
• The setting covers several nations, the whole world, or even the universe
• The episodes, even though they may be fictional, provide an explanation for some of
the circumstances or events in the history of a nation or people
• The gods and lesser divinities play an active role in the outcome of actions
• All of the various adventures form an organic whole, where each event relates in
some way to the central theme
Typical in epics is a set of conventions (or epic machinery). Among them are these:
• Poem begins with a statement of the theme ("Arms and the man I sing")
• Invocation to the muse or other deity ("Sing, goddess, of the wrath of Achilles")
• Story begins in medias res (in the middle of things)
• Catalogs (of participants on each side, ships, sacrifices)
• Histories and descriptions of significant items (who made a sword or shield, how it
was decorated, who owned it from generation to generation)
• Epic simile (a long simile where the image becomes an object of art in its own right
as well as serving to clarify the subject).
• Frequent use of epithets ("Aeneas the true"; "rosy-fingered Dawn"; "tall-masted
ship")
• Use of patronymics (calling son by father's name): "Anchises' son"
• Long, formal speeches by important characters
• Journey to the underworld
• Use of the number three (attempts are made three times, etc.)
• Previous episodes in the story are later recounted
Examples:
• Homer, Iliad
• Homer, Odyssey
• Virgil, Aeneid
• Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered
• Milton, Paradise Lost

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON RHETORICAL TERMS, SEE THIS SITE:

http://www.virtualsalt.com/rhetoric6.htm#Epithet
A Story of Epic Proportions: What makes a
Poem an Epic?
B. Read the opening paragraphs in each of the following:

The Iliad

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0217&redirect=true

The Epic of Gilgamesh

http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MESO/GILG.HTM

Beowulf

http://www.bartleby.com/49/1/

C. Identify elements such as the opening invocation in the opening lines of these poems or the
connection of the hero to his homeland, which is the basis for many epic heroes as national
figures.

Epic poetry has its roots in oral, rather than literate tradition. These stories were
originally passed on by bards, or professional poets who made their living by singing folk tales
and epic poems to audiences. While the details of the poem often shifted from one telling to the
next, the most important elements of the story always remained the same.

Choose a fable, fairy tale, or other story you know. Identify the most important characters,
objects and actions in the story. For example, a list of elements for Cinderella would probably
include Cinderella, the wicked step mother and her two daughters, the prince, the fairy
godmother, the glass slippers, the pumpkin coach, her banishment on the night of the ball, her
running from the ball at midnight, losing her slipper along the way, and the moment when her
foot fits the glass slipper.

Do this with another story.

A Story of Epic Proportions: What makes a
Poem an Epic?
Type the Answers to the Following and Turn in

1. Write definitions for the following terms:

Oral Tradition

Literary Tradition

2. Answer the following questions from Part C:

What elements do the stories have in common?

What do these elements represent?

How does the presence of these similar elements in the fables or fairy tales help you to remember
the sequence of events in those stories?

How might similar elements, or the presence of a predictable story cycle such as the epic hero
cycle, helped bards in the memorization of much longer epic poems?

Why do you think traveling bards might have localized elements of the stories they told as they
traveled from one city or town to the other?

3. Think of examples of stories set in distant times and places that have been changed to
bring the stories closer to contemporary audiences. Write an essay about the contemporary
telling of an old story which answers the following two questions:

•
Does changing the time, place, or details such as the style of dress in the "updated"
story affect the main elements of the story, or the story's message?

•
Why do story tellers (including movie directors) change the story to bring it closer
in time and space to its audience?

Attach your Essay to parts 1 and 2 above

3. FILL IN THE CHART ON EPICS USING AT LEAST ONE STORY/MOVIE/BOOK

FROM YOUR OWN TIME (ATTACHED).

Attach this chart to your other work.