Epic Vocabulary

19 terms

Epic

• Long story

• told in poetry

• relates the great deeds of a larger-than-life hero

• who embodies the values of a particular society

Myth

• Traditional story - serves to explain a belief

odyssey

• a long journey marked by changes in fortune

Culture

• socially transmitted behavior patterns (arts, beliefs, institutions)

Epic hero

• a main character in an epic

• whose legendary or heroic actions are central to his/her culture, race, or nation

Epic simile

• a simile developed over several lines of verse, elaborated in great detail

• Also called a Homeric simile

Monotheism

• belief that there is only one God

Polytheism

• belief in many gods

Epithet

• Adjective or descriptive phrase that is regularly used to characterize a person, place, or thing

• “Honest Abe”

Goddess

• A female god

Oracle

• A person (such as a priestess) through whom a god is believed to speak through

Rhapsode

• A poet who uses extravagantly enthusiastic or impassioned language

• One who recited epic and other poetry, especially professionally, in ancient Greece

Rhapsody

• An ancient Greek epic poem (or a portion of one suitable for uninterrupted recitation)

Muse

• Any goddess presiding over a particular art

• (sometimes lowercase ) the goddess or the power regarded as inspiring a poet, artist, thinker, or the like

Alter ego

• Another side of oneself; a second self

Oral tradition

• Stories passed down from one generation to the next

Homer

• 9th-century b.c., Greek epic poet: reputed author of the Iliad and Odyssey

Archetype

• An original model or type after which other similar things are patterned; a prototype:

• "'Frankenstein' . . . 'Dracula' . . . 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' . . . the archetypes that have influenced all subsequent horror stories" (New York Times)

The Iliad

• The older of the two surviving ancient Greek epic poems

• (traditionally ascribed to Homer but containing material composed orally over several centuries. It begins with the wrathful withdrawal of the Greek hero Achilles from the fighting in the Trojan War and ends after his return to slay the Trojan hero Hector)