Lit. Term Tuesday Epic Poem

 Defined:  A long poem that tells a story  details the heroic deeds and events important to a culture or nation  Defined:  A long poem that tells a story  details the heroic deeds and events important to a culture or nation

Elements of Epic Poetry  Important hero who has great historical or legendary significance  Vast setting, covering many nations, or even worlds  Action consists of deeds of great courage, sometime even superhuman courage  Elevated language used throughout  Important hero who has great historical or legendary significance  Vast setting, covering many nations, or even worlds  Action consists of deeds of great courage, sometime even superhuman courage  Elevated language used throughout

Literary Conventions  Opens by stating the theme or cause of the epic  Invocation: writer invokes a Muse to provide him with divine inspiration to tell the story of the great hero  In medias res: “in the middle of things” Poem opens in the middle of the story, when the hero is at his worst, then tells earlier parts of the story through flashbacks.  uses epithets: descriptive word or phrase in place of a person or thing.  Opens by stating the theme or cause of the epic  Invocation: writer invokes a Muse to provide him with divine inspiration to tell the story of the great hero  In medias res: “in the middle of things” Poem opens in the middle of the story, when the hero is at his worst, then tells earlier parts of the story through flashbacks.  uses epithets: descriptive word or phrase in place of a person or thing.

Famous Epic Poems  Epic of Gilgamesh  Odyssey  Iliad  Ramayana  Aeneid  Beowulf  Paradise Lost  Epic of Gilgamesh  Odyssey  Iliad  Ramayana  Aeneid  Beowulf  Paradise Lost