CLA236H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: De Rerum Natura, Dactylic Hexameter, Indian Epic Poetry
Document Summary
Grk epos: word ; story told in words . Aristotle: long but focused story, reversals as in tragedy, metaphorical language, deeds of heroes. Major heroic myth cycles: argonauts, theban cycle, trojan cycle, deeds of heracles. May be either an oral composition primary epic or a literary text secondary epic . Texts related to epic: didactic poetry, vergil"s georgics, lucretius" de rerum natura, manilius" astronomica, hesiod"s works and days, ovids ars amatoria, miniature epic , epyllion. Catullus 64, callimachus" hecale, moschus" europa: pastoral poetry. Standard features of epic: begin in media res (in the mdidle) (illiad: plague; odyssey: poseidon"s vendette against odyyseus, aeeid storm, vastness of setting. Invocation of the muse: epithetcs, catalogues, speeches, divine intervention, journeys to the underworld, nostalgic for the heroic past. Other general characteristics of epic: a world making genre: incorporates the entire universe, heaven to hell to everything in between (cf. : penelope and nausicaa; dido; the women of the met.
