Does the handsome hero always vanquish the fierce
dragon, save the princess, and found a new empire, or does he sometimes die
ignominiously in a ditch? Is a story “epic” in its essence, scope, or form, or
does it merely become epic after years of retelling and exegesis? While some
might wonder as to how King Arthur’s Excalibur was forged—a question indeed
worthy of investigation, this semester we will seek out the origins of the epic
through the study of ancient and medieval epic poems and their successors, romances
and novels.
Perhaps we could begin our exploration with the
word. “Epic” most plausibly entered English via the French épique—derived from Greek epikos, meaning a “word, story, or
poem.” It was not until the middle of the eighteenth century that the word
began to be used in a similar adjectival way to that in which English speakers
do today (“Dude, that was an epic game!”). As a genre the epic poem often
contains a number of specific elements: the recounting of a mythic and/or
national narrative that takes place in ancient history; the heroic exploits of
larger-than-life figures whose greatness in some area is contrasted by a tragic
flaw; the inclusion of unrelated episodes and anecdotes and similarly ekphrasis or the intricate and painstaking
description of details that might be deemed unnecessary when considered
alongside the full scope of a story’s narrative. In contrast and much more
simply, a romance is a fictional story written in the vernacular (that is, not
Latin!). However, is language the only factor in defining genre or are there
other considerations as well?
This class has two distinct
objectives. Our primary aim will be the study and consideration of various
texts and tales considered as epic within their respective traditions. Though
we will focus on medieval epics, we will also spend some time on ancient
narratives in order to learn the literary conventions of the genre (why are the
Odyssey, Beowulf, and La Chanson de Roland clearly examples of epic poetry
while the chivalric narratives of Chretien de Troyes are seen as a related but
differing genre, i.e. romance?). We will consider stylistic questions as well
as the role played by literacy and/or orality in forging the epic tradition and
investigate whether there are different types or subgenres of epic, or whether
the genre is in fact monolithic. As exegesis played a much more important role
in the Middle Ages than it does today, we will look at the role of exegesis in
creating epic narratives and study some of the accretions to traditional tales
(including those of the Bible) added by subsequent authors and learned
interpreters of literature, philosophy, and theology.
Later in the semester our focus
will depart from simply scrutiny of the genre per se and embrace the periphery
of the epic. We will contemplate the ways in which epics and romances change
through the translation of language, culture, and medium and ultimately evolve
into the modern novel. We will also think about the ways in which epics are
rewritten and survey related genres in written and other media such as film.
