What is Epic?
The word “epic” comes from the Ancient Greek adjective epikos, which means “a poetic storey.” The English term “epic” is derived from the Latin word “epicus,” which is taken from the Greek adjective “eipikos.”
Literary, an Epic is a long narrative poem on a serious subject written in a grand style. The subject of the Epic is a great hero or a nation or a tribe or a community of uncommon fortitude and exceptional bravery.
An epic, according to The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory, is a long narrative poem describing the adventures of warriors and heroes on a vast scale. It is a polygonal, ‘heroic’ storey that combines myth, mythology, folklore, and history. Epics are typically of national significance because they encapsulate a nation’s history and aspirations in a lofty or grandiose manner. An epic or heroic poem is a work that fits at least the following criteria: it is a long verse storey on a serious subject, told in a formal and elevated manner, and centred on a heroic or quasi-divine figure whose actions determine the fate of a tribe, a nation, or the human species (A Glossary of Literary Terms). “Epic is a long narrative poem in a dignified style about the deeds of a traditional or historical hero or heroes; typically a poem like the Iliad or the Odyssey with certain formal characteristics,” according to Webster’s New World Dictionary.
Epic can be divided into two types:
1) The Primary Epic or Folk Epic. This is usually based on the life of a heroic figure and traces the hero’s achievement. The first is a primary epic was initially oral; it is also known as a primitive or traditional epic. Their written versions were released afterwards.
2) The Secondary Epic or Literary Epic is based on the life of a legend and is generously embroidered with poetic imagination. The secondary epic initially composed.
Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey are primary epics and Virgil’s Aeneid and Milton’s Paradise Lost are secondary epics.
Tragedy and epics are considered the highest literary genres by Aristotle. The writer of the literary Epic faces great challenges.
