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Literary Devices in an Epic
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Literary Devices in an Epic
Homeric Similes and Epithets
Deus ex Machina
- Latin Phrase
- "The Ghost from the Machine"
- An impossibly challenging conflict is simply ended by the unexpected arrival of a god, character, event, or object
Old and Modern Examples
Harry Potter, the boy who lived
Romeo and Juliet - star-crossed lovers
Epithets
Swift-footed Achilles
Wide ruling Agamemnon
Laughter loving Aphrodite
Ares, curse of men
- an adjective or descriptive phrase expressing a quality characteristic of the person or thing mentioned
- served as a mnemonic aid to the poets and audience
- Alter meaning of the noun they are attached to
- DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION
Examples
Homeric Similes
"As ravenous wolves come swooping down on lambs...so the Achaeans mauled the Trojans."
"I drove my weight on it from above and bored it home like a shipwright bores his beam with a shipwright's drill that men below, whipping the strap back and forth, whirl and the drill keeps twisting, never stopping --So we seized our stake with it fiery tip and bored it round and round in the giant's eye."
A Few Terms...
- Epic
- Long, narrative poem
- Tells adventures of a hero
- Hero embodies the values of a civilization
- In medias res
- "In the middle of things"
- story begins in the middle or end
- Beginning told in flashback
- Invocation
- Calling upon a high power to guide the storyteller
- the Muses, God, etc
- Asks to tell the best story the author can
Also called an Epic Simile
A detailed comparison that is many lines in length
Typically makes a comparison to some kind of event
"like a _____ when it _____."
Usually compares something strange/unfamiliar to something ordinary/familiar
Often occur at a moment of high action or emotion