A very brief introduction and overview of epic poetry and tragedy.

1. THE EPIC & TRAGEDY
Dr. Gerald R. Lucas

2. THE EPIC
Is a long narrative poem
Relates a great and serious subject
Is related in an elevated style
Centers around a heroic or quasi-divine figure
Concerns the fate of a tribe, nation, or humanity
Started as an oral literary form

3. CHARACTERISTICS
Ranked by Aristotle as second only to tragedy
Expansive - the most ambitious literary type
Concerned with nation building
Where heroes come from - heroic ideal
Cosmic importance - gods take notice
Ceremonial

4. CONVENTIONS
In media res
Argument
Invocation
Epic question
Catalogs
Formal - aristoi

5. ACTIONS
Heroic deeds in battle
Facing great odds
Voyages
Great enterprises
Performing of exploits
Admirable actions

6. TRAGEDY
A drama that illustrates the sudden and catastrophic fall
of a great person from fortune to misfortune.

7. TRAGEDY
Arouses a catharsis from the audience
Dramatizes a casual relationship between character
and fate
Illustrates a universe that is not perfectly ordered
Suggests a great waste, like something great and noble
has ended

8. TRAGIC HERO
Is not eminently good or
noble
Possesses a hamartia
Makes important choices
Undergoes a peripeteia
Achieves a degree of
anagnorisis
Dies bravely