Topic 1 Introduction to epic genre

Topic 1 introduction to epic genre

Let's have fun!

content

1. Introduction

2. Definition of epic

3. The story and the theme

4. Closure

5. Checkpoint

Introduction

What's "Epic"?

Definition of epic

*It narrated historical facts*it usually makes an exhilaration of the heroes *it's told through large poems *sometimes it is used as a synomym of narrative

Characteristics of epic poems

• Mix the legends (fantasy) with history (reality).
• It was verbally spread. The poets who recite them to important aristocrats were called "aedos"

• There's an invocation of a muse at the beginning of the text.
• The use of epithets.
• The Gods are characters who appear and coexist with humans.
• Ornate language is used and there are a lot of literary figures.
• The literary figure enumeration appear in several chapters to mention something in more detail.

The story and the theme

Theme

Story

• It refers to an idea that appears in the text and that is central, but the author does not say it explicitly.
• It is something that remains implicit and that the reader must unravel.
• The theme can be usually said in a few words, because it covers the entire text (Rueda, 2010).

• Actions and the events that happen within the text.
• It is narrated in a chonological order.
• Literary discourse can be written in two ways: verse and prose.

Closure

We have presented the main characteristic that can appear on epic compositions. In the next topic we will address several of the epic poems that have existed in different civilizations, but by now you will know with more certainty what we mean when we talk about the epic genre. Think about the two senses that we have given to the word epic: the contemporary sense and literary and historical sense. Do you think they relate to each other? Furthermore, we saw that story and theme are two concepts that are related but are not the same. The difference is essential to establish a starting point when you start writing an essay or a review. These two concepts also appear in films and theaters. To practice the distinction of story and theme, think about your favorite movie and think about what the story is and what the theme is.

Checkpoint

Make sure you understand: The features of the epic genre. The concepts of story and theme.

Thanks

• Cervantes, M. (2005). Don Quijote de la Mancha. México: Santillana.
• Chávez, P. & Oseguera, E. (1995). Literatura universal 1. México: Publications Cultural. Educarex. (2003). Historia y discurso narrativo. Retrieved from http://contenidos.educarex.es/mci/2003/18/bachillerato/t1p1.htm
• Homer. (2006). The Iliad of Homer. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/6130/6130-pdf.pdf.
• Páez, E. (2013). Resumiendo conceptos. Retrieved from http://planetadepapel.blogspot.mx/2010/11/la-trama-el-tema-y-el-argumento-de-un.html
• Real Academia Española. (2013). Diccionario de la lengua española. Retrieved from http://lema.rae.es/drae/?val=épica
• Rueda, A. (2010). La trama, el tema y el argumento de una narración. Retrieved from http://planetadepapel.blogspot.mx/2010/11/la-trama-el-tema-y-el-argumento-de-un.html

Theme

Therefore, the reader, at the moment in which confronts the composition, needs to find what are the elements that are repeated or that are present. To find it, you should ask what the text is about, beyond the issue of what does the story tells. You can talk about positive or negative values ​​(love, friendship, trust, jealousy, envy, betrayal). The theme is a generalization of the work, as if it were a summary in a nutshell (Educarex, 2003).

Invocation to a muse

Examples

"Declare, O Muse! in what ill-fated hour / Sprung the fierce strife, from what offended power / Latona's son a dire contagion spread, / And heap'd the camp with mountains of the dead (Homer, 2006, p. 5)."

Epithets

"Far-darting Phoebus", "Blue-eyed Pallas", and "swift-footed achilles". Found in the Iliad.

Figure enumeration

Gods

"Then fierce Æneas, brandishing his blade, / In dust Orsilochus and Crethon laid, / Whose sire Diocleus, wealthy, brave and great, / In well-built Pherae held his lofty seat (Homer, 2006, p. 161)."

"Zeus, Athena, Apollo, Ares, Aphrodite among others.

Ornate language

"Where, like a tempest, darkening heaven round,/ oh, fiery deluge that devours the ground,/ The impatient Trojans, in a gloomy throng,/ Enbattled roll'd as Hector rush'd along (Homer, 2004, p.380)."

Literary discourse

Consectetur adipiscing elit

In the case of the verse, is the way that has rhythm, cadence, and measurement and is written in lines, it may or may not have rhyme. The prose is like everyday speech, which has a common structure and doesn't have verse or rhyme. The epic texts are written in verse.

"communication process in which the language is comprehended (Chavez and Oseguera, 1995, p. 283)", it has an author (the one who tells the message), an event (what the message says, what is happening in the story) and a receiver (the reader that receives the message).