TheLiteraryEpic
ItisimportanttonotethatTheEpicofGilgameshdoesnotexactlyfitintothetraditional
literarydefinitionoftheepicandtheepichero.Knowingtheliterarydefinitionandthe
variousdefinitionsthroughouthistorywillhelpstudentsdevelopaliteraryframeworkand
sparkdiscussionoverwhetherornotGilgameshfitsintothisdefinition.Allthefollowing
informationabouttheepicisdrawnfrom:MerriamWebsterOnlineDatabase'sentry
entitled"Hero"and"TheVictorianWeb"http://www.victorianweb.org/genre/epic2.html.
Theheroisanelementofliteratureoftentaughtbymanyteachers.Theworditself
connotesavarietyofimagesandemotionforstudents.Heroesrangefromthoseincomic
bookstothosefoundingreattragediesandepics.
Theepicpoemisalong,narrativepoemdetailingtheadventureorjourneyofanepichero.
Earlyepicsaretheresultoforaltraditionandhaveeventuallybeenwrittendownafter
manyyears.Theauthorsofthefirstepicsareunknownbecauseoftheoraltradition.As
timeprogressed,whatisknownasasecondaryepicstyledevelopedandauthorswentto
greatlengthstowriteepicsinthestyleoftheearly,orprimary,epicpoems.
Thegeneralcharacteristicsoftheepicpoemarethatinitiallyepicswereintendedtobe
sungorrecited,muchlikemusictoday.Thepoemsareoftengeneratedbytimesofstruggle
andadventure.Forexample,theTrojanWarservedasinspirationforthewritingof
Homer'sepics.Theepicheroislargerthanlife,eventhoughhepossessesnormalhuman
characteristics.Hispersonalityandabilities,however,aremoresuperthanthoseof
everydayman.
Theepicpoemhasaclearset-upanddesign.Thepoembeginswithaninvocation-this
invocationcallsonamuseorgodtoinspiredivineinterventionwhiletellingthetale.Inthe
invocation,thesubjectandtheepicquestionareintroduced.
Theepic'slanguageisliteraryandelevated.Thelanguageisusedbyallinthepoem,from
kingtoservant(eventhoughepicsrarelydetaillivesoractionsoftheservants).Epic
Adaptedfrom:http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2007/2/07.02.01.x.html
conventionsinclude:theinvocation,theepicquestion,theepicorHomericsimile,the
epithet,theconfrontationbetweentwoadversaries,theelementof"inmediasres",anda
battleorcombat
"Inmediares"translatesto"inthemidstofaction".Essentially,thepoembeginsinthe
middleorduringtheaction.Theaudiencelearnsbackgroundinformationanddetailsasthe
epicprogresses.Thesimileismuchliketheliterarysimileusing"like"or"as";however,the
epicsimileisfullofdescriptionandhelpstomovetheactionalongandtobuildsuspense.
Theepicheroisnotunlikethetragicherointhathebornintogreatnessorintoleadership.
However,theepicherohassomecharacteristicsthatclearlydistinguishhimfromthe
others.Thelegendaryherois"oftenofdivinedescentwhoisendowedwithgreatstrength
orability".Gilgameshsharesthesetraitswithotherearlyepicheroes.Theepicheroisina
differentclassofmenbasedonhis"skill,strength,andcourage".Itisalsonomistakethat
theheroisreferredtoas"he"becauseepicheroesarethecentralmalecharacterintheepic
itself.("Hero"MerriamWebster'sEncyclopediaofLiterature.MerriamWebster's,Inc.1995
NA.AcademicOneFile.ThomsonGale.).
Theepichero'smainfocusisdangerousactivity,essentiallyawarorbattleoveranevil
force.Theepicheroissomeonewewantfightingonoursideasheiscunning,resourceful,
instinctive,andskilled.Heworkswellunderpressure;heistheleaderthosearoundhim
need.Theseskills,althoughpossessedbyusall,aremagnifiedandshowntobegloriousas
theheroneedsthentoleadandsavetheday
Again,likethetragichero,ourepicheroisnotwithoutfault.Oftentheepicherohas
excessivepride(or"hubris")andisnotafraidtosinghisownpraises.Althoughrespected,
theheroisnotalwayssomeonelikeable.Aninterestingdichotomytoanalyzewiththe
students:isitbettertobeawell-likedleaderorawell-respectedleader?Arebothaspects
possible?Blindedbyhisownpraises,theheroseekstoenhancehisownreputationand
maytakeonfoolish,dangerousbattlesinanefforttocontinuetoaddtohislistof
achievements.Theseactionsnotonlyputhimindangerbutalsoriskthelivesofthose
Adaptedfrom:http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2007/2/07.02.01.x.html
aroundhim.This,however,makeshisvictoryevenmoregloriousandhispeople,even
moregrateful.(Landow,George."NotesonHeroicPoetry."
http://www.victorianweb.org/genre/epic2.html.).
BryanM.DavisinhisarticleonthesiteTheArchetypalHeroinLiterature,Religion,Movies,
andPopularCulture(http://titan.sfasu.edu/~beenet/resources/heromain.html)further
mapsoutcharacteristicsofthearchetypalorepichero.Hestatesthatthefollowingare
commoncharacteristicsepicheroespossess.Thecharacteristicsare:
1Unusualcircumstancesofbirth;sometimesindangerorbornintoroyalty
2Anevent,sometimestraumatic,leadstoadventureorquest
3Herohassupernaturalhelp
4TheHeromustprovehimselfmanytimeswhileonadventure
5Whentheherodies,heisrewardedspiritually
Thesecharacteristicsarenotunlikemodernheroesinmoviesandinpopularculture.
Havingthesecharacteristicsallowsstudentstoreadliteratureandlookfortheseelements
todeterminewhetherornotacharacteror"hero"fitsintothemoldoftheepichero.
Thejourneyisthekeyelementoftheepicandtheepiccycle.Theepiccycle,asoutlinedby
JenniferFoleyintheonlinelessonplan,StoryofEpicProportions:WhatmakesaPoeman
Epic?(http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=587)
identifieskeyelementsofthecycle.Theelementsare:
1theheromustpossesssupernaturalabilitiesorpowers.Thesecanoftenbemagnified
qualitiesweallpossess(forexample,strengthweallpossessbutthehero'sis
superhuman).
2theheroischargedwithaquestthatwilltesthisabilities.Thiswilltesthisworthinessto
bealeader.
3Thenisthepresenceofhelpersandcompanionsaswellasmythicalanimalsorcreatures
duringhisjourney.
4Thetravelsoftheherowilltakehimtoasupernaturalworldthatordinaryhumansare
Adaptedfrom:http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2007/2/07.02.01.x.html
barred.
5Thecyclereachesalowpointwhenwethinktheherohasbeendefeatedbutintheend,
theheroresurrectshimselfandregainshisrightfulplace.
Inthebook,HowtoReadLiteraturelikeaProfessor,ThomasFostergivesfiveelementsof
thejourneythatreaderscananalyze.Thefiveelementsare
1thequesterhimself,
2aplacetogo,
3astatedreasontogothere,
4challengesortrialsenrouteduringthejourney,
5therealreasonaquestergoesonthejourney
Manyquesterssetouttokillabeastordosomethingheroictocontinuetheirreignasking
orassomeoneofhighesteem.However,afterthejourneyisover,thereisamessageor
lessonthequestermustlearn.Thisabsolutelybecomestherealreasonthequestermust
takethejourneyandbecomessomethinguniversalthestudentscanlearnfrom.(Foster,
ThomasHowtoReadLiteratureLikeAProfessor.NewYork:HarperCollins,2003)
Adaptedfrom:http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2007/2/07.02.01.x.html