Honors English 9
An extended narrative poem recounting actions, travels, adventures, and heroic episodes and written in a high style. Generally has between twelve and twenty four books (chapters).
Epic poems like The Odyssey were originally oral works. Told by bards like Demodocus (Book 8) Homer is credited as first to write down a version of the story
Alive around 800 BCE Tradition holds that he was blind
Epic poems begin with a statement of the theme “The suffering deep in his heart at sea/ As he struggled to survive and bring his men home”
Invocation to the muse or other deity “Sing, goddess, of the wrath of Achilles”
Story begins in medias res (in the middle of things)
The main character or protagonist is heroically larger than life, often the source and subject of legend or a national hero
The deeds of the hero are presented without favoritism, revealing his failings as well as his virtues
The action, often in battle, reveals the more- than-human strength of the heroes as they engage in acts of heroism and courage
The setting covers several nations, the whole world, or even the universe
The episodes, even though they may be fictional, provide an explanation for some of the circumstances or events in the history of a nation or people
The gods and lesser divinities play an active role in the outcome of actions
All of the various adventures form an complete story, where each event relates in some way to the central theme
Catalogs of: participants on each side of a battle ships sacrifices
Histories and descriptions of significant items who made a sword or shield how it was decorated who owned it from generation to generation
Use of patronymics “John’s Son” “Son of Skywalker”
Long, formal speeches by important characters
Previous episodes in the story are later recounted
Epic simile- a long simile where the image becomes an object of art in its own right as well as serving to clarify the subject
“Its crackling roots blazed and hissed - as a blacksmith plunges a glowing ax or adze in an ice-cold bath and the metal screeches steam and its temper hardens - that's the iron's strength - so the eye of Cyclops sizzled round that stake.”
One of the hallmarks of the Homeric style is the epithet, a combination of a descriptive phrase and a noun. An epithet presents a miniature portrait that identifies a person or thing by highlighting a prominent characteristic of that person or thing.
Epithet comes from the Greek for putting (something) on (something). It is a tag or nickname that can be used on its own or together with the real name, depending on other features of the Greek language.
In English, the Homeric epithet usually consists of a noun modified by a compound adjective, such as the following: fleet-footed Achilles rosy-fingered dawn wine-dark sea earth-shaking Poseidon owl-eyed Athena.