Epic meaning literature12/30/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() The classical hero was of noble birth or even godlike, he often suffered some fatal character flaw and his ambition was personal and selfish. The epic was a vehicle for the heroes or great men of the day and the nature of the epic changed through the centuries tracking changes in the character and status of the hero. Many of the epics were specifically Christian allegories, others such as the great epic poem of Ovid are described further under metamorphoses and yet others are the subject matter of the mythologies. These stories of legendary or historical events, of ancestors and heroes of ancient society, of their part in the formation of these societies, and of other themes of universal significance provided at the same time entertainment and education for their listeners. The epic poem was the earliest type of story-telling in most parts of Europe from Greece and Rome to Ireland and Norway and it flourished throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance, from Beowolf, through the Niebelungenlied to the Chanson de Roland and other chansons de gestes of the 11th and 12th centuries. In primitive non-literate societies oral poetry was the vehicle for the transmission of culture from generation to generation and provided a medium which appealed to listeners and therefore guaranteed this perpetuation. The early history of the epic is almost the history of culture itself. It then evolved the meaning of a poem and finally epic as we now know it a form to be distinguished from the lyric which expressed a personal and intimate emotion. ![]() Epic comes from the Greek epos the earliest meaning of which was simply word. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |