English 12 4XY

 Long narrative poem that tells of the adventures of a legendary hero in pursuit of a nationally important goal  The hero’s accomplishments reflect the values of his culture  The hero’s accomplishments are usually found in history or mythology of his people

 Central character of an epic  Larger than life with a noble or semi-divine birth (Percy Jackson, Harry Potter)  Fights evil and forces that threaten the world’s order (battles the false accusation of Zeus, battles “he who must not be named”

 Significant birth  Goes on a quest  Has superhuman abilities or strength  Decent into underworld/darkness  Rebirth  Upholds the values of his culture-loyalty, bravery, honor

 Born to a Doctor who inherited the Wayne family fortune  Goes on many quests to make Gotham safe (battles Penguin, Joker, Scarecrow…)  Superhuman training, bravery, and technology  Falls in a well with bats, comes out stronger  Self-sacrificing, never kills, protects the citizens even if they don’t like him or support his cause (soldiers)

 Typical character, action, or situation that represents a universal pattern  A pattern to follow  The hero  The mother figure  The journey  The fall

 Long, adventurous journey/mission undertaken by the hero  Proves the hero’s heroism  Brings the hero honor and fame  Beowulf saves a neighboring kingdom by slaying Grendel

 Actions to demonstrate the hero’s courage, strength, or virtue  Makes up most of the action in the narrative  Beowulf battles Grendel bare handed

 Help from a god or supernatural force who finds interest in the hero’s quest  Poseidon helps Percy Jackson

 Important events from history of mythology of a nation or culture often provide the theme or backdrop for the epic  The Iliad takes place during the Trojan War

 All epics have  Epic hero  Quest  Valorous deeds  Many epic have  Divine intervention  Great events

 A folk epic is an ancient story about a hero told or sung as entertainment and passed down orally through the generations. These stories were unified into folk epics and written down long after they were first composed.  A literary epic is written by an individual in the style and convention of the folk epic.

 Epic open with by stating a subject or purpose then ask a muse to help tell the story  The plot begins in medias res “in the middle” of the story  Serious in tone and lofty in style

 Kin means family  King is generous providing gifts and protection for the tribe (remember, there is no unity on the island at this time)  The king’s men battle for him and only him  The pagan custom for the death of a kinsman was to kill the offending member or family member which led to the practice of wergild

 In an attempt to lessen revenge killings, the wergild is an amount of money that could be paid instead of murder.  In The Lord of the Rings, Isildur takes the one ring in payment for the death of his father and brother  In Beowulf, Grendel refuses to pay a wergild for the men he murders

 It was expected and honorable to boast (just make sure you can back it up!)