The epic poems

The epic poems

The word epic comes from the Greek noun "epos" that means "the poet's oral exposition".The two major epic poem in Western are Iliad and Odissey,written by Homer(Greek poet).The epic poem is a long narrative poetical composition with the recollection of a glorious past,the praise of the great,brave deeds of heroes and the death of a hero.The society decribed in epic poetry is aristocratic and military.
The narrative of the epic poetry is made up of a narrative formulae:banquet,battle,voyage,funeral.
The main theme is the nature of heroic society.The style is elevated,the vocabulary is rich and various.
The complementary made to epic poetry was the elegy.It's a lyrical poem in form of a dramatic monologue.The most important theme of a elegy was the exile or called also "wracca".The melancholic mood of this poem is in vivid and descriptive language.It's a long narrative text en vers that tell the deeds of the heroes.There are historical and supernatural elements.
The places are:castles,halls,battles of fields and characters are the kings,heroes and militaries.