Not on the List
The Epic of Gilgamesh (c. 3500 BCE) did not make it into the list of great books compiled by Adler and Hutchins, but in my humble opinion, it should have. Therefore I am going to do a quick post about it and my recent reading of it, before I dig into Plato's dialogues (which are the first readings suggested).
Epic
Epic is a term that has been so horribly misused in recent years, that it is almost impossible to properly explain what it does mean without first dealing with the multitude of concepts it does not mean. Epic has nothing to do with how awesome something is, or how awesomely bad something is. Both of these meanings are the standard understanding of the 30 and younger crowd these days. So let's get selfies gone wrong, crazy accidents, and hysterical tragedies out of our heads.
Epic is a literary form that is most commonly associated with the great works of Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey. However, as we will see, the idea behind the epic format fits pretty well with the Epic of Gilgamesh as well.
Epic stories focus on a hero. Epic stories tell formative information about a nation or specific group of people that will form a nation.
Epics tend to have certain characteristics to their style. They tend to use a high style of narrative that is distinct from common prose. This high style may take the form of repeated epithets used to distinguish common things and people from the special ones. Homer always speaks of the rosy-fingered dawn coming. He always has a descriptive epithet on his tongue when he speaks of a god or goddess. Epics tend to use repeated formula to explain actions or commands. Part of this may have been due to ancient epics being an oral composition that had to be remembered in its entirety by the bard (no small feat when you imagine that a audiobook recording of the Iliad lasts for more than 20 hours)
We may thank the Homeric epics for the characteristic of the epic simile. Homer tended to use very drawn out and very complicated ways of describing events or people. Consider this simile from The Iliad, book 4:
Homer also typicaly included, as do other epics, great lists of things called Epic catalogs.
Some of the more typical literary characteristics, which are not confined to the Homeric corpus, are allusions and pleonasms. Wikipedia calls Allusion a figure of speech that makes a reference to, or a representation of, people, places, events, literary work, myths, or works of art, either directly or by implication. Some examples cited by the article include the idea of 15 minutes of fame or a catch-22 situation. Both of these expressions allude to some other body of work or idea that they get their meaning from. Wikipedia calls Pleonasm simply using more words or word-parts that is necessary to for clear expression. It gives the phrases black darkness or burning fire as examples of this device.
Epics tend to have certain characteristics to their style. They tend to use a high style of narrative that is distinct from common prose. This high style may take the form of repeated epithets used to distinguish common things and people from the special ones. Homer always speaks of the rosy-fingered dawn coming. He always has a descriptive epithet on his tongue when he speaks of a god or goddess. Epics tend to use repeated formula to explain actions or commands. Part of this may have been due to ancient epics being an oral composition that had to be remembered in its entirety by the bard (no small feat when you imagine that a audiobook recording of the Iliad lasts for more than 20 hours)
We may thank the Homeric epics for the characteristic of the epic simile. Homer tended to use very drawn out and very complicated ways of describing events or people. Consider this simile from The Iliad, book 4:
As when rivers in winter spate running down from the mountains throw together at the meeting of streams the weight of their water out of the great springs behind in the hollow stream-bed,and far away in the mountains the shepherd hears their thunder;such, from the coming together of men, was the shock and the shouting.Homer here compares the shouting of men going to war with water coming out of a mountain, forming a stream and eventually a river. It is certainly memorable - which may have been the main intent. Don't forget that the epics were likely sung or recited in some way.
Homer also typicaly included, as do other epics, great lists of things called Epic catalogs.
Some of the more typical literary characteristics, which are not confined to the Homeric corpus, are allusions and pleonasms. Wikipedia calls Allusion a figure of speech that makes a reference to, or a representation of, people, places, events, literary work, myths, or works of art, either directly or by implication. Some examples cited by the article include the idea of 15 minutes of fame or a catch-22 situation. Both of these expressions allude to some other body of work or idea that they get their meaning from. Wikipedia calls Pleonasm simply using more words or word-parts that is necessary to for clear expression. It gives the phrases black darkness or burning fire as examples of this device.
Next time...
In my next post, we will look at the story of the Epic of Gilgamesh and determine what it has to offer the Great Conversation.
Stay tuned.....
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