DEREK WALCOTT AND THE EPIC TRADITION IN OMEROS Roxanne Orpin Dan Hong

Biography  Native of Castries, St. Lucia, West Indies  Mother was a teacher  Father died when he was an infant  Involved in local theater Born January 23, 1930Early Life

Biography  Published his first poetry collection in 1948, Twenty-Five Poems  Attended St. Mary’s College, and University of the West Indies  B.A in English, French, Latin  Taught at Columbia, Howard, Boston University, Harvard, Yale  Nobel Laureate 1992 in Literature

Omeros: Metaphors, and Allusions to Homer  “Omeros” is the name “Homer”in modern Greek  Characters such as Philoctete, Helen, Achille, Hector  Greek Gods  The narrative journeys all over the world

So What? There are four schools of thought regarding Omeros.  Epic structure is a major strength  Links to oral or folk traditions  Denies the poem’s epic qualities  Remakes the classical epic into something specifically Caribbean and Postcolonial

Why Use Classical Roots in a Caribbean Tale?  Conflict of self-identity  Binary relationship between Plunkett and the narrator, “Walcott”  Creates a new epic through appropriating Greek/European traditions

Bibliography  Fumagalli, Maria Cristina. "Derek Walcott's Omeros and Dante's Commedia: Epics of the Self and Journeys into Language." Cambridge Quarterly 29 (2000): Oxford University Press Journals. 6 July  Jay, Paul. "Fated to Unoriginality The Politics of Mimicry in Derek Walcott’s Omeros." Callaloo 29 (Spring 2006): Project Muse. 6 July  Williams, Ted. "Truth and Representation: The Confrontation of History and Mythology in Omeros" Callaloo 24 (Winter 2001): JSTOR. 6 July  Zoppi, Isabella Maria. "Omeros, Derek Walcott and the Contemporary Epic Poem." Callaloo 22 (Spring 1999): JSTOR. 6 July 2009.