1. Beowulf and the Epic Hero

2. Epic
 Long narrative poem
 Aristocratic persons involved in a series of actions
usually significant in the development of a nation
 Always germane (fitting/relevant) to the subject
 Larger than life hero unifies the action
 Passed by word of mouth from generation to
generation
 Viewed as early history of peoples
 Finally written down
 Cultural records of societies

3. Epic Form
 Hero has heroic and/or superhuman qualities
 Poetic lines, formal tone
 Supernatural forces such as gods, angels, and
demons are present—interest selves in the action
and intervene form time to time
 Setting is vast in scope, covering great nations, the
world or the universe (upper/lower worlds)

4. Epic Form
 Actions consists of deeds of great valor or
requiring superhuman courage
 Begins in media res
 Long time periods/journeys
 Life and death struggle between good and evil

5. Conventions of an Epic
 Opens with a theme
 Invokes a Muse for inspiration
 Catalogs of warriors and ships
 Style is sustained elevation and grand simplicity
 Epic poet recounts the deeds of heroes with
objectivity
 Extended speeches by epic hero

6. Examples
 Illiad
 Odyssey
 Song of Roland
 Aenid
 Divine Comedy

7. Literary Devices
 Epithet
 A word or brief phrase used to characterize a person,
place or thing
 Richard the Lionheart
 Gray-eyed Athena
 Gandolf the Gray
 Kenning
 A descriptive figure of speech that takes the place of a
common noun, especially in Norse/Anglo-Saxon poetry
 Sea=whale road
 King=ring-giver

8. Epic Hero
 Always male in traditional epics
 High social status
 Fate affects his people’s destiny
 Rarely modest, boasting common
 Embodies ideals and values of his people

9. Beowulf
 Oldest known epic
 About the Danes and Geats
 Also includes Swedes, Frisians, Franks, Heathobards
 Beowulf a creation of the poet
 No record of his actual existance