Understanding the Epic Genre

Section Objectives

While studying Homer, having a clear understanding of his epics’ roots will present openings for broader discussion concerning origin, background and context. All considered, this information is not vital for the syllabus but does involve the following from OCR’s advised learning for literary context:

• Oral tradition.
• Transmission of texts, including when the epics were written down.
• What [the epics] preliterate form was and whether they were composed by more than one poet.

Set below are the section’s objectives:

• Understanding epic poetry as a genre and further considering the oratory phaenomenon in regard to cultural importance.
• Looking at the function of storytelling across early societies.
• Studying the transmission of epic poetry and how it evolved for the Homeric.

(For all intents and purposes, we will be avoiding the debate of Homer’s identity for now.)

 

The Epic Genre in Depth

Spoken simply: epic poems are exceptionally long, narrative-driven poems, describing the celebrated deeds of national heroes and gods. Their subjects are mythological, heroic and legendary! They address religious tales, promote moral principles and popularise social archetypes—the inactive and unassuming man is weak, the productive, multi-faceted and strong man is a king. The latter is exceptionally important when we are considering Homer’s epic poetry, or any Greek literature, as we will discover to what lengths Homer propagated the culture and ideals of his society.

Typically, the stories follow extraordinary characters living in eras where men allegedly lived among gods, divine figures who pried on mortal life and interfered on behalf of their changeable tenets and biases. By description alone, it is fair to say these poets visited worlds unfamiliar to us—not to insinuate the early audiences who experienced these performances were familiar with cracking open a cold one with Dionysus either. We therefore describe these narratives as taking place in so-called ‘heroic ages’, something I will be addressing in a moment to prevent myself from going off on a tangent right now. Let’s move on!

Now, a misconception I have encountered (during my many attempts to educate unsuspecting friends) has been the perception that the poems had to be composed orally to be classified as epics. This is simply not the case; examples from Virgil, such as his Aeneid, act as written models, whereas Homer’s Odyssey was oral. Despite the dissimilarities in composition, however, underlying nearly all written specimens exists a clear trace of an oral character. Extraordinarily, this is generally put down to Homer’s poetry, since it survived to be such an influential precursor and template to successive work. His compositional style was largely founded on the natural patterns used both for storytelling and spoken conversation; so, it isn’t impossible to understand why an oral association is applied to successive and written epic poetry.

In my opinion, these imitations of colloquial techniques are largely accountable for the genre’s charm, giving it a characteristic fluency and easy-to-read attraction. Of course, the original dactylic hexameter also supplies some of this grace, but the orally derived, uncomplicated approach to the narrative absolutely helps when we are studying from the translated texts.

But what was the purpose of telling these stories? Well, I did begin to touch on that before, but if you insist: the transmission of the epic poem was an ingenious solution when they needed to convey their values and traditions across their society and for future generations. These legendary poems are, as mentioned previously, recognised for describing the glorious deeds and movements of national heroes. These narratives featured higher society men and women who embodied the traits idealised in their ancient world.

Accordingly, we see this ‘solution’ in action, promoting the principles of good behaviour. Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus represents the respectable aristocracy: the moral and noble, the blessed and honourable. He is wise, considerate of xenia and mindful of his timé and kleos. As a member of Homer’s society, if you wanted to be or look up to anyone from the Odyssey it would be Odysseus, not a loutish suitor or disloyal servant—needless to say, their ends reiterated this (spoiler: they are absolutely crushed by Odysseus, Telemachus and their faithful servants). So, put two and two together; when all fates are considered, it is evident that Homer’s Odyssey is advising us not to waste another man’s wealth, in conjunction with the neglect of xenia.

Okay, of course this is just a hasty example of transmission of values, but this is all due to be revisited and considered in context later on.

This precise narrative coincides with certain heroic epic poetry that has been strongly associated with so called ‘heroic ages’: this appears to occur when national identities are being formed or reformed within a society, usually when absent or struggling. Remarkably, however, countries have often already achieved economic productivity and have adequate material culture by the time a national identity eventually begins to appear and settle.

I will be returning to this when discussing Greece’s ancient history in more depth.

As a piece of wider knowledge: The heroic age, or Age of Heroes, is even referred to as one of the five Ages of Man, established by the Greek poet Hesiod in his Works and Days: The Golden Age, the Silver Age, the Bronze Age, the Age of Heroes and, eventually, the Iron Age are all featured. These placements were to categorise the different stages of man and his connection with the gods, the latest Iron Age being where Hesiod placed himself: a world of suffering that was detached from the gods entirely. Don’t let yourself confuse these with our modern-day classifications for eras, this was just a bit of fun fact content!

Epic in the Ancient Greek Timeline

The epic is believed to have been established in the Greek’s late Mycenaean period, spanning the later coined heroic age (starting c. 1100BCE), and entering Homer’s time during the so-called Geometric period (c.900-750BCE). It was during this Geometric period it is understood the Greek epic climaxed, most significantly with the Iliad and Odyssey.

Distinctly, the ancient Greeks used their epic poetry in a way that exemplified the cycle of this oral tradition and phaenomenon. Their heroically themed narratives outlasted the downfall of their so-called Greek Heroic Age culture, making a lot of the material retrospective rather than current or prospective. This is likely what inspired the placement of Hesiod’s Age of Heroes, since their tales continued to be written and performed despite the time for intermingling with gods having passed… not that this ever occurred, and not to talk down Zeus if, by any case, I am incorrect.

Returning to this subject of the Greeks’ morals and beliefs, their Heroic Age based poetry really promoted the idea of individuality among men being a most desired quality. We perceive this in the notable heroes of this age, often recalled for their distinguishing triumphs and merits: Odysseus being wise and resourceful, and pivotal to the success of the Trojan War, for instance. Characterised in Homeric poetry comes this idea that being a ‘good’ man comes from active and imposing individuality. An inefficient, inactive, often ugly, and unremarkable man was therefore considered ‘bad’. Furthermore, Homer’s period was an age where aristocracy was supported, with the rulers and prolific men seen inherently as the ‘best’ figures in society. His works therefore promoted those ideas.

By the middle of the 5^th century BCE, the art of the oratory epic genre was distinct for the Greeks and there was an enduring belief that Homer had fathered it, that he had invented its rhetoric purpose or the theory of its anatomy. However, this has been agreed to be a defunct suggestion, simply due to the impossibility of one man managing to devise such structurally advanced pieces, with copious mythological content, without a precedent.

Of course, our Homer has been responsible for two great epics, one being the Odyssey and the second being the Iliad. His work truly introduced western literature into the world and has been recorded and enjoyed unlike any of the prose before his emergence.

Transmission of Homer into the Future

After Homer, evidence suggests that the activity of the aoidoi (Classical Greek bards) reduced, until they gave way for the rhapsodes between 625-575BCE. This specific group played a large role in the preservation of Homer’s poetry. They travelled the later society, declaiming the already famous works of Homer to audiences across ancient Greece. The rhapsodes were characterised by their staffs, which they are believed to have used to give emphasis to their words as they celebrated these remarkable poems.

A deserved fate for some very impressive storytelling.