P3+Epic+Tradition


 * Epic Tradition **

Historical: Tim Wils



The historical effect of epic traditions gives insight into the culture of certain civilizations, and also gives a basis to modern plot. The first epic poems date back to Homer and his stories The Iliad and The Odyssey. These brought up the idea of many modern plots, with a hero going on a quest, facing great adversity, facing these adversities and triumphing through intelligence, strength, or any other qualities. Epics have also been shown to give ideas with the culture of a certain society, and may even give unique insight into historical events that were thought fictional. “ Using examples of epic poetry from Gilgamesh to Walcott's Omeros, and of performance traditions from places as different as the Central Himalayas and the Balkans, we propose a new way of considering the position of the epic in cultural and intellectual life in the United States (where many of these debates have been fought most fiercely), in Europe, and in many other areas with living epic traditions” (Beissinger). From epic poems that have been written or performed throughout history, it gives insight into the culture of different countries. For example, Homer’s stories gave great insight into the story of the Greeks, and from his stories it has become a subject of debate on whether the Trojan War had actually occurred (Korfmann). If it were not for epics, then we would not have such detailed knowledge on religion and how life was in general in areas that were not able to record their history.

Works Cited

Sanders, Arnie. “Epic Traditions: The Hero--Homer to Virgil to Dante to Milton”. Goucher College. Department of English. Web. 28 August 2012.

Beissinger, Margaret, Jane Tylus, and Susanne Wofford. Epic Traditions in the Contemporary World. Berkley: University of California Press, 1999. Web. 29 August 2012.

Korfmann, Manfred. “Was There a Trojan War?”. Archaeology Magazine. Archaeological Institute of America. May/June 2004. Web. 29 August 2012.


 * Aim: Ariana Warsco **

The aim of an epic tradition is to tell the heroic events that heroes encountered. It is usually an orally told story with supernatural humans with a special ability that they use to become a hero. Oral traditions are verbally passed down from generation to generation involving the heroic stories. Sometimes they can have a moral to the story that way the audience has something to take away from it. Many epics can be used for entertainment while sitting around a fire. The plot of an epic tradition is usually formatted where the beginning is where the heroic character is introduced and the actions of the character are meant to be the beginning of the great deeds. As the epic progresses, the character will hit obstacles where they are meant to overcome using their supernatural abilities. The way the story is formatted is to cause suspense by making it seem as if the main character won’t be able to be victorious. There are many different actions and events to express how marvelous the hero can be because it was able to perform such elaborate tasks. However, all the smaller situations are meant to be part of a much greater task that tests the abilities of the hero to prove if they can really be considered one. In a way, an epic is just a different way to portray good versus evil. In conclusion, epic tradition’s aim is to explain how heroes can overcome such difficult tasks and come out victorious in good versus evil.

Works Cited: "Homer." //World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras //. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 30 Aug. 2012.

"oral tradition." //World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras //. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 30 Aug. 2012.

Culture: Kara Jellesma



There are ample amount of countries and civilizations in which use the story form of an Epic. The stories are based on supernatural forces within the world. Each epic tradition shapes ideas and forms of the culture of what is more traditionally thought to be Rome and Greece. They tell great stories of heroes and battles showcasing the ideals and strength of the country or region it came from. Hero worship which was and still is the focal point of Indian culture is depicted in these epics. For example India takes epics into consideration for religion, pride and worship among other things, “Mahabharata written by Vyasa is a epic tale about the quarrel between Pandavas and the Kauravas. Ramayana written by Valmiki narrates the story of Lord Ram, son of King Dasharatha of Ayodhya. For over the centuries, these epic stories have inspired a great deal of art, music, dance, theatre and even spirituality” (Culture 1). The Epics showcase and push the ideals and focuses of the country into it’s writings to be passed down through each generation as a sort of tradition. Epics show the roots or a country, they showcase the strengths and the glories of each aspect of the land they were written in and about.

Works Cited

"Indian Epics." Epics. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Aug. 2012. .

"MYTHOLOGY: THE EPIC TRADITION." MYTHOLOGY: THE EPIC TRADITION. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2012. .

Audience: Mary Francine B. de los Santos



The audience of epic tradition is not specific, instead widening its range to that of the entirety of nearly any given culture. Epics are poems that indeed did glorify heroes, but for what purpose? To entertain, teach, inform? Stories about marvelous deeds and impossible foes were passed orally, then later transcribed for the ease of reading and capturing the full essence of the tale in its totality. Epics not only engaged, taught, and enlightened the masses; these legends preserved the very history of the country from which they originated and helped to spread the values of society retained within them. “[Epics’] value, however, derives less from their literal content than from their cultural context and function: they are seen in relation to something beyond their text, such as people’s perception of group identity, core values of the society in question, models of heroic conduct and human endeavor, symbolic structures of history and mythology” (Honko 21). Heroic poems give life to an age long passed since their occurrence and place in human history, and they enrich whichever cultures, far and vast, they become embedded into. Perhaps the most important knowledge gained from these timeless works, crafted for many purposes, is the strive needed to make the connection between both the present and the past.

Works Cited

Honko, Lauri. "Epic and Identity: National, Regional, Communal, Individual." Oral Tradition.  11.1 (1996): 21. Web. 29 Aug 2012. S.P.R. and J.K.N. "EPIC: History." New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry & Poetics. Princeton:  Princeton University Press, 1993. Web. 31 Aug 2012.