The Iliad as an Epic | Discussions of its epic features.

What is an epic? 

 “Epic is a long verse narrative on a serious subject, told in a formal and elevated style, and centered on a heroic or quasi-divine figure on whose actions depends the fate of a tribe, a nation, or (in the instance of John Milton's Paradise Lost) the human race”(Abrams, 2012, P.107). 

In potential size, epic is hugely ambitious undertaking to articulate the most essential aspects of a culture, from its origin stories to its ideals of social behavior, social structure, relationship to the natural world and to the supernatural. (Epic as Genre by Richard P. Martin).

Epics have some pivotal and distinct features that distinguish them from other genres of literary works. 

Epic features: 

a. Epic is frequently the first or the oldest literary work in the culture and is usually very long. (Epics are the shapers of culture). 

b. The epic opens in the middle of an action. (Media Res).

c. The setting is very vast, covering many nations, the world, or the cosmos. 

d. It begins with an invocation to the Muses.  

e. It starts with a statement of the theme: Praepositio. 

f. The hero of an epic (epic hero) is a figure of great national or even cosmic importance. 

g. The action includes superhuman deeds in battle, long arduous adventures, journeys & voyages.

h. The participation of Gods & Goddesses in human action. 

i. The language of an epic is of grand style as it uses epic similes and epithets.

j. It has long and formal speeches.