1. Epic Poetry Terms

2. Invocation To the Muse -prayers for poetic inspirations
help with telling a story

4. Archetype
- In literature and art an archetype is a character, an event, a story or an image that recurs in different works, in different cultures and in different periods of time.
- Archetype is a Greek word meaning “original pattern, or model.”
- Examples of archetypes are: the hero, the damsel in distress, the battle between good and evil, etc.

5. Situational Archetypes
These are common situations, or plots, seen in literature, movies, television, etc. over and over throughout history and cultures. Chances are, if you’re watching a movie that follows one of these situational archetypes, you know what’s going to happen in the end when the movie is in the opening five minutes.
Examples include:

6. There are several types of journeys the hero can take
THE JOURNEY—
The hero goes in search of some truth or information to restore life to the kingdom. The quest involves proving himself, defending or saving someone or something, or finding something.
There are several types of journeys the hero can take
Identity
Knowledge
Vengeance
to find the promised land
journey for the grail (human perfection)
The type of journey determines the type of hero.

7. The Fall
Describes a descent from a higher to a lower state of being. The experience involves a defilement and/or a loss of innocence and bliss. The fall is often accompanied by expulsion from a kind of paradise as a penalty for disobedience and moral transgression.
Battle between Good and Evil —
Obviously the battle between two primal forces. Mankind shows eternal optimism in the continual portrayal of good triumphing over evil despite great odds. These manifest themselves in the classic conflicts of menacing enemies, natural dangers, moral dilemmas, problems with society, and difficulty with fate or decisions

8. Character Archetypes
These are the “stereotype” characters that you see over and over again. You’ve seen these characters throughout different cultures and over different eras in history.
Examples of these popular archetypes are:

9. THE HERO — mother is sometimes a virgin, circumstances of birth are unusual, some attempt is made at birth to kill him; raised by foster parents, returns to his kingdom to right wrongs, marries a princess, becomes king, meets a mysterious death, body is burned rather than buried
ANTI-HERO - A non-hero, given the job of failure, frequently humorous (think Homer Simpson)
THE SCAPEGOAT — animal or human who is unjustly held responsible for others’ sins; sacrificed but they often become more powerful force dead than alive

10. DEVIL FIGURE—evil incarnate; offers worldly goods, fame, or knowledge to the hero in exchange for possession of the soul
THE MOTHER FIGURE-often a goddess who brings the life source to the story either by actually birthing things into being or nurturing them for survival
TEMPTRESS—sensuous beauty; brings about the hero’s downfall because he is physically attracted to her
DAMSEL IN DISTRESS- A vulnerable woman who needs to be rescued by the hero. She is often used as a trap to ensnare the unsuspecting hero

11. Allusion
Definition:a reference within a work to something famous outside it, such as a well-known person, place, event, story, or work of art, literature, music, pop culture.

12. Oral Traditions
Oral traditions is a term that includes fairy tales, fables, legends and tall tales, and myths
Oral traditions were composed long ago, in many cases before books were available to the general public
Although each type has its distinctions, all oral traditions have a shared purpose of teaching the reader a lesson about life.
Told by word of mouth

13. Heroic Couplet
Heroic couplets are lines of iambic pentameter that rhyme in pairs (aa, bb, cc).
The couplet forms a rhetorical unit; it is written in an elevated style

14. What is an Epithet?
Brief descriptive phrases that help to characterize a person, place, or thing.
Similar to a nickname.
“Son of Laertes and the gods of old, Odysseus, master mariner and soldier, you shall not stay here against your will…”
Melissa Biggs 2010

15. What is an Epic Simile?
An elaborate and descriptive comparison between 2 things using like, as, or than.
It is more involved than a regular simile.
Also called a Homeric simile.
“And Odysseus let the bright molten tears run down his cheeks, weeping [like] the way a wife mourns for her lord on the lost field where he has gone down fighting the day of wrath that came upon his children.”
Melissa Biggs 2010