Epic

This student guidebook offers a clear introduction to an often complex and unwieldy area of literary studies. Tracing epic from its ancient and classical roots through postmodern and contemporary examples this volume discusses:


a wide range of writers including Homer, Vergil, Ovid, Dante, Chaucer, Milton, Cervantes, Keats, Byron, Eliot, Walcott and Tolkien

texts from poems, novels, children's literature, tv, theatre and film

themes and motifs such as romance, tragedy, religion, journeys and the supernatural.


Offering new directions for the future and addressing the place of epic in both English-language texts and World Literature, this handy book takes you on a fascinating guided tour through the epic.

Chapter One: Epic Literary History Chapter Two: Ancient and Classical Epic Chapter Three: From The Heroic towards Romance and Allegory Chapter Four: The Renaissance and the Early Novel Chapter Five: Epic in the Age of the Individual