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epic

Epic

Allusions--Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary | 1986 | Copyright

221. Epic (See also Saga.)

  1. Aeneid Virgil’s epic poem glorifying the origin of the Roman people. [Rom. Lit.: Aeneid ]
  2. Beowulf Old English epic poem of sixth-century Denmark. [Br. Lit.: Beowulf ]
  3. Divine Comedy Dante’s epic poem in three sections: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. [Ital. Lit.: Divine Comedy ]
  4. Faerie Queene allegorical epic poem by Edmund Spenser. [Br. Lit.: Faerie Queene ]
  5. Frithiofs Saga Esaias Tegner’s poetic version of the Norse Saga of Frithiof the Bold. [Nor. Lit.: Haydn & Fuller, 275]
  6. Gilgamesh Babylonian epic of myth and folklore, centered on the king, Gilgamesh. [Babyl. Myth.: Gilgamesh ]
  7. Gosta Berling’s Saga Selma Lagerlof’s story of the legendary life of an early nineteenth-century character. [Swed. Lit.: Gosta Berling’s Saga in Benét, 412]
  8. Heimskringla medieval account of the kings of Norway from legendary times to the twelfth century. [Norw. Hist.: Haydn & Fuller, 322]
  9. Iliad Homer’s epic detailing a few days near the end of the Trojan War. [Gk. Lit.: Iliad ]
  10. Jerusalem Delivered Tasso’s celebrated romantic epic written during Renaissance. [Ital. Lit.: Jerusalem Delivered ]
  11. Kalevala alliterative epic poem of Finland. [Finn. Lit.: Kalevala ]
  12. Laxdale Saga medieval account of two Icelandic families and their feud. [Icel. Lit.: Benét, 572]
  13. Lusiad, The celebrates Portuguese heroes and wars. [Port. Lit.: Magill II, 608]
  14. Mahabharata Indian epic poem of the struggle between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. [Indian Lit.: Mahabharata ]
  15. Nibelungenlied medieval German epic poem of Siegfried and the Nibelung kings. [Ger. Lit.: Nibelungenlied ]
  16. Njál Saga greatest of the Icelandic sagas, based on the historical adventures of two families. [Icel. Lit.: Haydn & Fuller, 524]
  17. Odyssey Homer’s long, narrative poem centered on Odysseus. [Gk. Lit.: Odyssey ]
  18. One Hundred Years of Solitude encompasses the sweep of Latin American history. [Lat. Am. Lit.: Gabriel Garcia Marquez One Hundred Years of Solitude in Weiss, 336]
  19. Orlando Furioso Ariosto’s romantic epic; actually a continuation of Boiardo’s plot. [Ital. Lit.: Orlando Furioso ]
  20. Orlando Innamorato Boiardo’s epic combining Carolingian chivalry and Arthurian motifs. [Ital. Lit.: Orlando Innamorato ]
  21. Paradise Lost Milton’s epic poem of man’s first disobedience. [Br. Lit.: Paradise Lost ]
  22. Ramayana epic poem of ancient India. [Indian Lit.: Ramayana ]
  23. Song of Igor’s Campaign Old Russian epic poem of 12th-century Prince Igor. [Russ. Lit.: Song of Igor’s Campaign ]
  24. Song of Roland chanson de geste of Roland and Charlemagne. [Fr. Lit.: Song of Roland ]
  25. Song of the Cid epic poem of Spain by an anonymous author. [Span. Lit.: Song of the Cid ]
  26. Terra Nostra combines the myths and history of twenty centuries of Western civilization. [Lat. Am. Lit.: Carlos Fuentes Terra Nostra in Weiss, 458]
  27. Volsunga Saga cycle of Scandinavian legends, major source of Niebelungenlied. [Scand. Lit.: Benét, 1064]
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"Epic." Allusions--Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. 1986. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Epic." Allusions--Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. 1986. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2505500230.html

"Epic." Allusions--Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. 1986. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2505500230.html

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epic

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

epic long, exalted narrative poem, usually on a serious subject, centered on a heroic figure. The earliest epics, known as primary, or original, epics, were shaped from the legends of an age when a nation was conquering and expanding; such is the foundation of the Babylonian epic of Gilgamesh, of the Iliad and the Odyssey of the Greek Homer, and of the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf. Literary, or secondary, epics, written in conscious imitation of earlier forms, are most notably represented by Vergil's Aeneid and Milton's Paradise Lost. The epic, which makes great demands on a poet's knowledge and skill, has been deemed the most ambitious of poetic forms. Some of its conventions, followed by epic writers in varying degrees, include a hero who embodies national, cultural, or religious ideals and upon whose actions depends to some degree the fate of his people; a course of action in which the hero performs great and difficult deeds; a whole era in the history of civilization; the intervention and recognition of divine or supernatural powers; the concern with eternal human problems; and a dignified and elaborate poetic style. Other works classified as epics are the Indian Mahabharata and Ramayana, the French Song of Roland, the Spanish Song of the Cid, the Germanic Niebelungenlied, Dante's Divine Comedy, Tasso's Gerusaleme Liberta, Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, Spenser's Faerie Queene, and Camões's Lusiads. A mock epic is a form of satire in which trivial characters and events are treated with all the exalted epic conventions and are made to look ridiculous by the incongruity. The plot of Pope's Rape of the Lock, one of the most famous mock epics, is based on a quarrel over the theft of a lady's curl.

Bibliography: See studies by Sir C. M. Bowra (1961), H. V. Routh (2 vol., 1927; repr. 1968), C. A. Yu (1973), J. Ingalls (1984), and J. K. Newman (1986).

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EPIC

Dictionary of American History | 2003 | Copyright

EPIC

EPIC was an acronym for the "End Poverty in California" movement, an effort to promote left-liberal candidates within the Democratic Party in California and Washington State in 1934. Upton Sinclair formed the movement in 1933 and ran under its banner as the Democratic candidate for governor of California. Calling for "Production for Use and Not for Profit," Sinclair supported higher taxes on corporations, utilities, and the wealthy, along with a network of state factories and land colonies for the unemployed. The twelve principles of EPIC and its twelve political planks alarmed the Democratic Party establishment but deeply appealed to factions of an electorate concerned about the contemporary economic depression. By election day there were almost two thousand EPIC clubs in California. Sinclair lost the election by a small margin, but twenty-seven EPIC candidates won seats in California's eighty-seat legislature. In Washington, EPIC backers elected a U.S. senator.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

McElvaine, Robert S. The Great Depression: America, 1929–1941. New York: Times Books, 1993.

McIntosh, Clarence F. "The Significance of the End-Poverty in-California Movement." The Pacific Historian 27 (1983): 21–25.

Sinclair, Upton. I, Governor of California, and How I Ended Poverty. A True Story of the Future. New York: Farrar and Rinehard, 1933.

James DuaneSquires/c. p.

See alsoCalifornia ; Great Depression ; Share-the-Wealth Movements .
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epic

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature | 2003 | | Copyright

epic, a poem that celebrates in the form of a continuous narrative the achievements of one or more heroic personages of history or tradition. Among the great epics of the world may be mentioned The Iliad, The Odyssey, and The Aeneid (see Virgil) of classical, and the Mahābhārata and Rāmāyana of Hindu literature; the Chanson de Roland (see Roland and chansons de geste); The Cid; Boiardo's Orlando Innamorato; Ariosto's Orlando Furioso; Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered; and Camoëns's Lusiads.

In English literature, the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf is perhaps the only genuine epic, if an epic is defined as a long poem of a heroic age, based on anonymous lays and being impersonal and objective in its narrative.

Of ‘literary epics’, Spenser's The Faerie Queene and Milton's Paradise Lost are most famous. There was much speculation among critics in the 17th cent. on the theory of epic poetry, and several attempts were made to write an epic in English comparable to The Iliad. (Famous examples, both poor and unfinished, are Cowley's Davideis and D'Avenant's Gondibert.) Wordsworth's Prelude has been termed an ‘epic of the mind’, and Byron's Don Juan ranks as epic poetry. Some critics have claimed the same rank for Browning's The Ring and the Book; it is perhaps more accurately classed as a ‘novel in verse’.
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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "epic." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "epic." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-epic.html

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "epic." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-epic.html

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epic

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | Copyright

ep·ic / ˈepik/ • n. a long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the history of a nation. ∎  the genre of such poems: the romances display gentler emotions not found in Greek epic. ∎  a long film, book, or other work portraying heroic deeds and adventures or covering an extended period of time: a Hollywood biblical epic. • adj. of, relating to, or characteristic of an epic or epics: England's national epic poem Beowulf. ∎  heroic or grand in scale or character: his epic journey around the world. DERIVATIVES: ep·i·cal adj. ep·i·cal·ly adv.

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epic

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Copyright

epic Long, narrative poem in grandiose style. The earliest known form of Greek literature, epics were originally used to transmit history orally. Using highly formalized language, epics tend to involve gods, men and legendary battles. Homer is the author of two of the most famous epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, which effectively established the scope and conventions of the form. Later examples include the Aeneid by Virgil, Paradise Lost (1667) by Milton, and The Faerie Queene (1589–96) by Spenser.
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epic

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | | Copyright

epic a long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the past history of a nation. The word comes via Latin from Greek epikos, from epos ‘word, song’, related to eipein ‘say’.
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "epic." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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epic

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Copyright

epic adj. XVI; sb. XVIII. — L. epicus — late Gr. epikós, f. épos word, song; see -IC.
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T. F. HOAD. "epic." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "epic." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-epic.html

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EPIC

A Dictionary of the Internet | 2001 | | Copyright

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DARREL INCE. "EPIC." A Dictionary of the Internet. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

DARREL INCE. "EPIC." A Dictionary of the Internet. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O12-EPIC.html

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epic

Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes | 2007 | Copyright

epic •priapic • aspic • epic •philippic, prototypic, stereotypic •Olympic • nitpick •ectopic, gyroscopic, heliotropic, horoscopic, isotopic, isotropic, kaleidoscopic, macroscopic, microscopic, misanthropic, myopic, philanthropic, phototropic, telescopic, topic, tropic •Ethiopic • biopic •Inupik, Yupik •toothpick

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EPIC

The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations | 1998 | | Copyright

EPIC Engineering and Production Information Control
• (or Epic; (ˈpɪk)) European Prospective Investigation into Cancer
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FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH. "EPIC." The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH. "EPIC." The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O25-EPIC.html

FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH. "EPIC." The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations. 1998. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O25-EPIC.html

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