That’s Epic!


The word “epic,” these days, has been adopted by Internet- agers to invoke the indescribable coolness or sheer immensity of something—anything froma dance move to a really fantastic sandwich. “Epic fail” is a popular internet meme, thewords superimposed over an image or video of a complete failure, which can include anything from an embarrassing typo to a painful fall down a light of stairs. Before being co-opted by the LOLCats generation, “epic” described a type of long-form narrative poetry. It’s no wonder the word eventually extended to mean awesome— most epic poems center on heroic adventures and deeds.


In Greek, epos means


Auguste Leloir’s Depiction of Homer Performing Homer, 1841


“word” or “story.” The Iliad is one of the earliest existing examples of epic poetry, dating back to anywhere between the 8th and 6th centuries BCE. Scholars believe that the earliest epic poems evolved out of oral storytelling: poets and storytellers performed the poems live, and with various


degrees of


as the casemay be). Aswith the Iliad, epicswere often organized into shorter chapters, or books, thatmade it easier for the performer tomemorize the entire poem.


improvisation, before the poems inally made their way to paper (or tablets,


Because epic poetrymost likely evolved frompreliterate societies and exists in various forms throughout global history, not all poems adhere to any one speciic form. Many Western epics followthe example set forth by Homer in the Odyssey and the Iliad:


praepositio: the poet opens the poemby stating a theme or asking a question about a theme.Homer begins by speaking aboutRage, a feeling that certainly movesmany of the characters of the Iliad, particularly Achilles.


invocation: the poet, before embarking on the story itself, asks for help or inspiration from the Muses. In the Iliad, the poet often pauses to ask the Muses for clariication and encouragement.


in medias res: the poet begins the story “in the middle of things.” Homer begins his story toward the end of the Trojan War, rather than taking us through themany years prior.


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wikipedia.org


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