The epic is primarily a long, mythical story composed verse. It is essentially a community product. The urge to write an epic comes from society which is alive not only to its unique entity but also to creative activity. Without such a thirst in the society its composition is hardly possible.
It is of two kinds – authentic and primary. The authentic epic is more realistic than the latter. It deals with the common matters and incidents. There is no heightening of the situations for the effects.
The epic poet draws out his plot from the past. Any great event of considerable influence inspires the minstrels, who write on it. Each minstrel writes on what he feels important in it. To get a whole picture of the event, all the popular poems on it are gathered. A great poet with a universal vision writes an epic on it collecting the available information.
Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Adenoid are such epic compositions. In those poems gods and goddesses influence the destiny of the people. The Anglo-Saxon Beowulf comes under the same category. The style of the Homeric epic is simple and easy, for they were intended to be read to the people in public meetings. Many words and phrases recur in Homer to catch the ears of the listeners. The beautiful words and images delighted them.
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The primary epic is artificial in its composition. The poet consciously adopts a theory in order to teach or preach certain morals. Hence, the events need not necessarily be true in every-day life. Though the poet chooses an important event from the past, he moulds the plot to suit his purpose. He imparts new vigor and new life to it by introducing new incidents and new characters. Milton’s epics are literary. In Paradise Lost he chooses a Biblical plot, which deals with heaven, earth, chaos and the ‘Fall of Man’. But he infuses the spirit of his age and his own personality into it. They explore a new dimension of the plot.
The literary epic follows the tradition set by Homer. The theme is of national or universal importance. The characters are lofty personalities. The theme of the epic is stated in the beginning with an invocation. Milton followed the classical tradition in the Paradise Lost, which opens thus:
Of man’s first disobedience and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
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Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With the loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restores us, and regain the blissful seat,
Sing Heavenly muse……….
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The theme of the epic, as made clear by Milton at the outset, is to ‘justify the ways of God to Man.’ He employs the conventional poetic devices to heighten the effect. His grand style and simile have a special place in English verse.
The mock epic also flourished in England. It is written on French and Italian models. The Battle of the Frogs is a mock epic as it is a parody of the Iliad. The mock epic takes a theme unworthy for an epic and treats it with epical grandeur.
The incident, which forms its basis, is a trifling one. But the poet uses all the epic conventions and devices to give it the appearance of an epic. Pope’s Rape of the Lock is one of the finest examples of mock epic. Lord Peter cut a lock of hair from the head of Miss Arbella Femora and it sparks off a quarrel between the two families. Pope treats the episode with sarcasm and mockery.
The epic form is almost an anachronism today. However any work of epoch-making importance and considerable length may be metaphorically called an epic. It is thus that Joyce’s Ulysses is considered a modern epic.