1,254
edits
Epic Poetry: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 34: | Line 34: | ||
The christian epic carries the same themes into a wide archetypal context; the action of the ''Bible'' includes the themes of the three great classical epics: theme of destruction and captivity of the city (Troy) in the ''Iliad''; the theme of the return in the ''Odyssey''; the theme of building a new city in the ''Aeneid''. Adam is like Achilles, Odysseus, and Aeneas — a man of wrath, exiled from home because he angered God by going beyond his limit as a man. A provocation against God is the eating of food reserved for the deity. As with Odysseus, Adam’s return home is contingent on appeasing of divine wrath by divine wisdom. | The christian epic carries the same themes into a wide archetypal context; the action of the ''Bible'' includes the themes of the three great classical epics: theme of destruction and captivity of the city (Troy) in the ''Iliad''; the theme of the return in the ''Odyssey''; the theme of building a new city in the ''Aeneid''. Adam is like Achilles, Odysseus, and Aeneas — a man of wrath, exiled from home because he angered God by going beyond his limit as a man. A provocation against God is the eating of food reserved for the deity. As with Odysseus, Adam’s return home is contingent on appeasing of divine wrath by divine wisdom. | ||
== Actions == | |||
Actions appropriate to the epic include: | |||
* Deeds of heroes like Beowulf, Gilgamesh, Prometheus | |||
* Battles against great odds, like Roland | |||
* Wars between individual heroes as in the ''Iliad'' | |||
* Real voyages as in the ''Odyssey''; or allegorical voyages through a different terrain as in the ''Divine Comedy''' | |||
* Initiation of great enterprises, as the founding of a new city in the ''Aeneid'' | |||
* The performing of exploits, great and important; admirable actions accompanied by difficulty, temptations, and danger | |||