An epic is a long narrative poem, on
a grand scale, about the deeds of warriors and heroes. It is a polygonal,
‘heroc’ story incorporating myth, legend, folk tale and history. Epics are
often of national significance in the sense that they embody the history and
aspirations of a nation in a lofty or grandiose manner.
Basically, there are two kinds of
epic: (a) primary- also known as oral or primitive; (b) secondary- also known
as literary. The first belongs to the oral tradition and is thus composed
orally and recited; only much later, in
some cases, is it written down. The second is written down at the start.
In category (a) we may place, for
example, Gilgamesh, Iliad and Odyssey, Beowulf, the lays of the Elder Edda and
the epic cycles or narodne pesme of the South Slavs.
In category (b) we may put Virgil’s Aeneid, LUcan’s Pharsalia, the anonymous
Song of Roland, Camoens’s Lost and Victor Hugo’s La Legende des siecles.
There is also a very large number of
other poems which might be put into one or other category. The majority belong
approximately to category (b).
Gilgamesh, the Sumerian epic (c. 3000
BC), is the earliest extant work in the oral tradition. It recounts the
adventures of the king of that name, his travels with Dnkidu the wild man,
Enkidu’s death and then the journey of Gilgamesh to the Babylonian Noah,
Utnapishtim- the only man known to have discovered the secret of immortality.
Utnapishtim shows him the plant of life. On his return a snake robs Gilgamesh
of the plant, but the king consoles himself with the fame he has gained as the
builder of the walls of Erech. The poem, which is in twelve books, is an account
of a man’s search for glory and eternal life.
