Epic Literature
Online Resources for 9th Grade World Literature Project
I. Finding Epic Literature and Context Information
Search generally – “Epic Literature”
Search specifically – by author or title
Search by historical event, time period, social or religious issues
The National Endowment for the Humanities Education Site describes the epic
hero cycle as having the following elements: an extraordinary hero who is
charged with a journey or quest. The quest itself has obstacles that force the
hero to prove himself. In some cases mystical or supernatural beings are for or
against the hero and may even lead that hero into the supernatural world,
where other humans have never been. Like the tragic hero, the epic hero
reaches a low point but rather than die, like the tragic hero, the epic hero
resurrects himself and the epic comes to its resolution.
The epic poem has a clear set-up and design. The poem begins with an
invocation - this invocation calls on a muse or god to inspire divine intervention
while telling the tale. In the invocation, the subject and the epic question are
introduced.
The epic's language is literary and elevated. The language is used by all in the
poem, from king to servant (even though epics rarely detail lives or actions of
the servants). Epic conventions include: the invocation, the epic question, the
epic or Homeric simile, the epithet, the confrontation between two
adversaries, the element of "in medias res", and a battle or combat
"In media res" translates to "in the midst of action". Essentially, the poem
begins in the middle or during the action. The audience learns background
information and details as the epic progresses. The simile is much like the
literary simile using "like" or "as"; however, the epic simile is full of description
and helps to move the action along and to build suspense.
The epic hero is not unlike the tragic hero in that he born into greatness or into
leadership. However, the epic hero has some characteristics that clearly
distinguish him from the others. The legendary hero is "often of divine descent
who is endowed with great strength or ability". Gilgamesh shares these traits
with other early epic heroes. The epic hero is in a different class of men based
on his "skill, strength, and courage" .It is also no mistake that the hero is
referred to as "he" because epic heroes are the central male character in the
epic itself. ("Hero" Merriam Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature. Merriam
Webster's, Inc. 1995 NA. Academic OneFile. Thomson Gale.).
The epic hero's main focus is dangerous activity, essentially a war or battle
over an evil force. The epic hero is someone we want fighting on our side as he
is cunning, resourceful, instinctive, and skilled. He works well under pressure;
he is the leader those around him need. These skills, although possessed by us
all, are magnified and shown to be glorious as the hero needs then to lead and
save the day
Again, like the tragic hero, our epic hero is not without fault. Often the epic
hero has excessive pride (or "hubris") and is not afraid to sing his own praises.
Although respected, the hero is not always someone likeable. Is it better to be
a well-liked leader or a well-respected leader? Are both aspects possible?
Blinded by his own praises, the hero seeks to enhance his own reputation and
may take on foolish, dangerous battles in an effort to continue to add to his list
of achievements. These actions not only put him in danger but also risk the
lives of those around him. This, however, makes his victory even more glorious
and his people, even more grateful. (Landow, George. "Notes on Heroic
Poetry." http://www.victorianweb.org/genre/epic2.html. ).
Bryan M. Davis in his article on the site The Archetypal Hero in Literature,
Religion, Movies, and Popular Culture (
http://titan.sfasu.edu/~beenet/resources/heromain.html) further maps out
characteristics of the archetypal or epic hero. He states that the following are
common characteristics epic heroes possess. The characteristics are:
1 Unusual circumstances of birth; sometimes in danger or born into royalty
2 An event, sometimes traumatic, leads to adventure or quest
3 Hero has supernatural help
4 The Hero must prove himself many times while on adventure
5 When the hero dies, he is rewarded spiritually
These characteristics are not unlike modern heroes in movies and in popular
culture. Having these characteristics allows students to read literature and look
for these elements to determine whether or not a character or "hero" fits into
the mold of the epic hero.
The journey is the key element of the epic and the epic cycle. The epic cycle,
as outlined by Jennifer Foley in the online lesson plan, Story of Epic
Proportions: What makes a Poem an Epic?
(http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=587)
identifies key elements of the cycle. The elements are:
1 the hero must possess supernatural abilities or powers. These can often be
magnified qualities we all possess (for example, strength we all possess but the
hero's is superhuman).
2 the hero is charged with a quest that will test his abilities. This will test his
worthiness to be a leader.
3 Then is the presence of helpers and companions as well as mythical animals
or creatures during his journey.
4 The travels of the hero will take him to a supernatural world that ordinary
humans are barred.
5 The cycle reaches a low point when we think the hero has been defeated but
in the end, the hero resurrects himself and regains his rightful place.
In the book, How to Read Literature like a Professor, Thomas Foster gives five
elements of the journey that readers can analyze. The five elements are
1 the quester himself,
2 a place to go,
3 a stated reason to go there,
4 challenges or trials en route during the journey,
5 the real reason a quester goes on the journey
Many questers set out to kill a beast or do something heroic to continue their
reign as king or as someone of high esteem. However, after the journey is over,
there is a message or lesson the quester must learn. This absolutely becomes
the real reason the quester must take the journey and becomes something
universal the students can learn from. (Foster, Thomas How to Read Literature
Like A Professor. New York: HarperCollins, 2003)
A. Galenet
Gale Virtual Reference Library – GVRL (e-books)
Cite as book or reference source- online “epic poetry”
Literature Resources from Gale
Discovering Collection—search your epic
Literature Resource Center - LRC
LitFinder for Schools—a source for full text Greek epics
Cite as an online database.
User and password: New27591 or pioneer
There are a number of ways to search Gale’s Literature Resource Center,
including by:

Name of Work,
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Person,
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Keyword,
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Time Period,

Content Type (Criticism, Overviews, Reviews, etc.)
B. EbscoHost Literary Reference Center (User ID: npsd, Password:
pioneer)
C. Proquest K-12 Discovering Collection (User ID: 00-1303 Password:
bigchalk)
D. netTrekker – educational search engine
Use to find educational websites about epic tales/poems, some offer
digitized
full text. Cite website or for text, as book posted on the Internet.
NPHS login: npsdhs Password: pioneer
Selected Websites:
http://www.auburn.edu/~downejm/hyperepos.html
http://www.enotes.com/ student/teacher discussion community
Online books page, University of Pennsylvania
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/browse?type=lcsubc&key=
Epic%20poetry%2C%20English%20(Old)%20--%20Criticism%2C%20Textual&c=x
The internet archive
http://archive.org/search.php?query=epic%20poetry%20criticism%20AND%20me
diatype%3Atexts
For full text search Project Gutenberg at www.gutenberg.org
Safari Montage educational video also available
Metasearch engines:
www.dogpile.com
www.excite.com
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10/12
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