THE EPIC & TRAGEDYDr. Gerald R. Lucas

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

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

CONVENTIONS

In media res

Argument

Invocation

Epic question

Catalogs

Formal - aristoi

ACTIONS

Heroic deeds in battle

Facing great odds

Voyages

Great enterprises

Performing of exploits

Admirable actions

TRAGEDYA drama that illustrates the sudden and catastrophic fall

of a great person from fortune to misfortune.

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

TRAGIC HERO

Is not eminently good or noble

Possesses a hamartia

Makes important choices

Undergoes a peripeteia

Achieves a degree of anagnorisis

Dies bravely