Epic poetry is a literary genre consisting of long narrative poems that tell of a heroic protagonist embarking on adventures of historical or national significance. General characteristics of epic poems include a legendary or mythic hero, a wide variety of settings, beginning in the middle of the story, tales of great deeds, and supernatural elements (Downes, 2005). Some divide epics into two categories: folk epics and art epics. Folk epics are ancient poems told through oral tradition or without a certain author, like Beowulf or The Epic of Gilgamesh. Art epics are always written and have known authors, like Dante’s Divine Comedy or Milton’s Paradise Lost. The earliest known epic poem, The Epic of Gilgamesh, has been traced back as far as 3000 BCE in Ancient Mesopotamia (Yoshida, 2018).
Paradise Lost by John Milton is one example of an epic poem from class. It’s a long poem, consisting of over ten thousand lines spread across twelve books. Paradise Lost has almost all of the general characteristics of epic poems described previously. It describes the mythic creation story of the fall of man, which is a story of historical significance. The narrative contains supernatural forces, like angels, demons, and shape shifting snakes. It’s spread across a wide variety of settings, including Heaven, Hell, and Earth. The protagonist of the story is arguably Satan, who is an important historical figure. In addition, Paradise Lost begins in the middle of the story and tells the background leading up to it after.
A related term to epic poetry is narrative. Epic poems are long narratives and contain stories with connected events. Another relevant term is allegory. An allegory is a poem or story that can represent a hidden meaning. Epic poems, like Paradise Lost, often have meanings that are open to interpretation from the narrative.
Citations:
Downes, Jeremy M. “Epic Basics.” Auburn.edu, 1 June 2005, www.auburn.edu/~downejm/epicbasics.html.
Yoshida, Atsuhiko. “Epic.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 5 Jan. 2018, www.britannica.com/art/epic.
