Epic Poetry Essay Examples

One of the most famous epic-poems in world history, “The Song of Roland” recounts events during the first Crusade when Charlemagne reigned (approximately 778 A.D.)  and demonstrates the oral tradition in epic poetry. Though myriad versions of the poem have been uncovered, there is no “definitive” version, per se, and ‘The Song of Roland” is […]

El Cantar del Mio Cid is the oldest preserved Spanish cantar de gesta. Formerly, it was transmitted only orally, but in 1142 it was written down by a certain Per Abbat. This copy is held as part of a 14th century codex in the Biblioteca Nacional de Espana (National Library) in Madrid. However, it is […]

Virgil does not merely use the notion of war to further his plot but deals with many types and aspects of war throughout the poem, mythological wars; recent wars; their effects; their causes; and often we can notice Virgin’s own opinion on such a matter, subtly merged into the thick of things. However In contrast […]

Galoshes was a pitiable character in that his behavior was oppressive, prideful and egotistical in his actions against his people of Rusk. Shillelagh’s actions displayed poor qualities of a true leader and he abused his powers by using them against his people. An admirable trait of a great leader that is never expressed is loyalty, […]

Epic Hero definition It was the Greeks who first identified the protagonist, known as the epic hero. These heroes of the tragedy should evoke a sense of heroism in the audience thanks to legendary, impressive knowledge. The epic hero must be a man whose condition is caused by his own amazing characteristics. Many of the […]

The Hero with a Thousand Faces is a non-fiction novel written by Joseph Campbell. The book explains Campbell’s 17 steps of a hero. Campbell believed that all heroes went through these steps through out there journey. Many books emphasize and prove his theory correct, but these were some pieces that came to mind were the […]

Heroes of our great epics and legends of great artistic flavors were not ordinary human beings, but were the gifts of divine powers to redeem thirsty and bloody earth from our sins. Morton W. Bloomfield rightly said, “The original hero in early literature was probably based on the king who died for his people, the […]

As the opening poem to the ASLS website proclaims, ‘Forget your Literature, Forge your Soul’. This is very true and its veracity can only be understood by patrons of literature who assimilate its refined aesthetic in the very fabric of their personhood. Just as literary art seeps through to the soul of the patron, so […]

When one thinks of the afterlife, they can’t help but think of Dante’s Divine Comedy. In his book, The Inferno, Dante ventures into hell, both as a poet and an epic hero. His story is obviously inspired by Book VI of Virgil’s The Aeneid, which depicts the epic journey, into the underworld, of Virgil’s hero […]

An epic is a long narrative poem that recounts the doings of a legendary hero whose action determines the fate of people or a nation surrounding them. The epic of Sundiata recapitulates the story of the foundation of the Mali Empire. The epic is told by the griot, an African oral storyteller who is responsible […]

Long time before the Spaniards and other foreigners landed on Philippine shores, our forefathers already had their own literature stamped in the history of our race. Our ancient literature shows our customs and traditions in everyday life as traced in our folk stories, old plays and short stories. Our ancient ancestors also had their own […]

1. The theme of the film is Love because it focused on the love of Dante to Beatrice and the sacrifices he did for her. That up until the end, he really did everything for Beatrice. But love was also shown not only because of Beatrice but also because of Dante challenged the notion that […]

In the latter stages of the sixteenth century when Spenser was composing The Faerie Queene, he had a rich heritage of literary tradition to draw from: not only the classical epic poets and ancient philosophers but also more recent Italian epic and the Arthurian legends, told in their fullest form by Geoffrey of Monmouth in […]

Learners of all ability levels enjoy the adventurous and imaginative stories of the Greek gods and mortals, and The Odyssey is a good introduction to similar stories, such as Beowulf, that they may encounter later in their high school studies. Lower-ability learners can follow this story. The language at times may seem formidable, but with […]

Introduction While the analogy chosen for this paper may appear superficial and even far-fetched, the author believes that certain lessons and characters of Mahabharata may be extrapolated even to the field that would be completely remote from the world of ancient Indian epic literature. The main themes to be explored in this paper would be […]

Beowulf refers to the single greatest narrative of the Old English literature. Moreover, it is one of the best epics of all time. Paradoxically, nobody can claim to be an author of this astounding example of literature. Just like any other epic heroes, Beowulf the following qualities make him an epic hero: exemplifying strength and […]

The inclination to belittle the reality of female heroism while encouraging male heroism is far more conspicuous in African epics as compared to any other African literary genre. Many African epics, although on might question why women are not quite the actual heroines, they are portrayed as just attachments of their male equals, regardless of […]

In the realm of poetry, different cultural perspectives exhibit different ways of evaluating their heroes based on their character and the impact they had on the society. For instance, heroes portraying the god-like character, go off and achieve great things in life, while dealing with divinity and mortal beings alike. Regarding this, Homer’s The Odyssey […]