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; ''[[Xenia]]'' : The code of hospitality or “guest-friendship” exemplified by a pattern of behaviors and expectations between the host and the guest. | ; ''[[Xenia]]'' : The code of hospitality or “guest-friendship” exemplified by a pattern of behaviors and expectations between the host and the guest. | ||
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* {{cite book |last=Cuddon |first=J. A. |date=1976 |title=A Dictionary of Literary Terms |edition=Revised |url= |location=New York |publisher=Penguin |pages= |isbn= |author-link= |ref=harv }} | * {{cite book |last=Cuddon |first=J. A. |date=1976 |title=A Dictionary of Literary Terms |edition=Revised |url= |location=New York |publisher=Penguin |pages= |isbn= |author-link= |ref=harv }} | ||
Revision as of 08:34, 24 February 2022
The following vocabulary is important in the study of the epic. This is just a glossary that gives a general idea of the term; further research is always encouraged.
- Aoidos
- A bard, or an early singer of oral epic poetry. Homer’s depiction of Demodocus in the Odyssey is an aoidos.
- Apostrophe
- Literally “turning away”,[1] it’s the narrator’s interruption of the narration to directly address to a character or some abstract quality as if it was present.[2] The rhapsode’s traditional invocation to the muse in epic poetry is an example of apostrophe.[3] See “O My Rider.”
- Arete
- The excellence or moral virtue of a hero.
- Aristeia
- Literally “excellence,” this is when an epic hero reaches his finest moments in battle.
- Aristoi
- The “best people,” the nobility or aristocrats. Sharing the same root as arete, the aristos are the heroes of the Homeric epics.
- Dactylic hexameter
- The meter of epic poetry has six dactyl (a long and two short syllables) feet. This provides the musical rhythm of the verse.
- Epithet
- Formulaic units used as mnemonic aids and a way to adhere to dactylic hexameter,[4] epithets described characters or things using a characteristic quality, like the “wily Odysseus” or “Pallas Athena.” Homer often used compound adjectives as epithets, like “wine-dark sea” and “rosy-fingered dawn” called Homeric epithets.[5]
- Polymêtis
- Cunning intelligence, or “with many wiles”: with polytropos, another of Odysseus’ epithets. This is Odysseus the strategist.
- Polytropos
- “Versatile” or with “many twists and turns”: the chief epithet of Odysseus. As Hexter points out, Odysseus’ “creative cunning and manifold misfortunes” are represented by the many poly- adjectives Homer employs to describe him: “Flexibility, adaptability, and trickiness belong to the core of Odysseus’ being.”[6]
- Rhapsode
- The professional performer of epic poetry in the fifth and fourth centuries bce.
- Xenia
- The code of hospitality or “guest-friendship” exemplified by a pattern of behaviors and expectations between the host and the guest.
Citations
- ↑ Cuddon 1976, p. 53.
- ↑ Harmon & Holman 2003, p. 37.
- ↑ Kennedy, Giola & Bauerlein 2013, p. 11.
- ↑ Frye et al. 1997, p. 178.
- ↑ Cuddon 1976, p. 309.
- ↑ Hexter 1993, pp. 4, 5.
Works Cited
- Cuddon, J. A. (1976). A Dictionary of Literary Terms (Revised ed.). New York: Penguin.
- Frye, Northrup; Baker, Sheridan; Perkins, George; Perkins, Barbara M. (1997). The Harper Handbook to Literature (Second ed.). New York: Longman.
- Harmon, William; Holman, Hugh (2003). A Handbook to Literature (Ninth ed.). Upper Saddle Creek, NJ: Prentice Hall.
- Hexter, Ralph (1993). A Guide to the Odyssey. New York: Vintage.
- Kennedy, X. J.; Giola, Dana; Bauerlein, Mark (2013). Handbook of Literary Terms: Literature, Language, Theory. Boston: Pearson.
| Gilgamesh | |
|---|---|
| Iliad | |
| Odyssey | |
| Aeneid | |
| Sophocles | |
| Euripides | |
| Ovid | |
