The epic genre issues from mankind’s desire record the innate self importance that places the individual at the center of all his or her activities. It is the same spirit that assures humans of their dominant place within the universe. The spirit of the epic seeks to raise the individual to a higher level of prominence than that which might be ascribed to him/her in regular day-to-day living. The significance that each person assigns to his or her life places that person upon a stage, as mankind itself is placed upon the stage of the universe.Upon that elevated platform individuals magnify the spectacle of his/her experiences as though they were as instrumental to the shaping of the universe.
This is the spirit with which such works as The Iliad, The Osyssey and The Aeneid are imbued. The works are concerned with the lives of great men who are pursuing feats and adventures upon which nations or wars have been built. These events are suffused with the spirit of great peoples and empires, whose notoriety was established through the works of individuals (similar to the ones described above) who dared to dream.This is the same spirit to which patriotism might be attributed. Gods and goddess come to the aid of such men as (Agamemnon, Achilles, Osysseus, Telemachus, Aeneid), whose national importance is a reflection of the spirit that resides in them as in all humans. The clashing of nations in wars is characteristic of the epic genre, and this reflects the elevated human spirit, residing in the ego, which propels the hero (or the self) upward to the head of the pack.
This is reflected in any social (or even animal) group, in which the egos present rise and develop a pecking order.From this a hero arises. This is reflected in the historical epics of The Iliad, The Aeneid and The Odyssey through the wars that are recorded in those texts. The egotist spirit of mankind is reflected in the egos of the nations that rise up to war against others for the sake of becoming the dominant empire.
The conflicts are fed by military might as well as strategy, and this reflects the nature of the individual to desire excellence both physically and intellectually.The expansiveness of the setting that usually characterizes the epic is also representative of the vast ambition of the human soul. The self importance of the individual has been superimposed upon the epic genre through the presence of the gods. The authors represent mortals as being attended by the supernatural in two ways.
First, such authors usually represent themselves as being attended by muses.Virgil, for example, invokes and is answered by the muse. He writes, “O Muse! he causes and the crimes relate; What goddess was provok'd, and whence her hate” (lines 11-12). This not only demonstrates the elevation of the epic poet by his attendance by a supernatural being, but it also represents the attribution of the events to the work of gods interested in the mortals about whom his story revolves.
This epic rendition of the gods as interested in the humans being portrayed is reflective of the spirit of mankind that considers itself of immense importance to the universe and (consequently) to the entities responsible for its existence.The major images and themes of war, death, valiantness, conquest, and voyaging succeed in elevating not just the nations for which the wars are fought and lives given, but also the ultimate cause for which these things are done. The Trojan War, as related in the Iliad takes place because of the ingenuity and might of the Greeks—which is representative of the human spirit to conquer and dominate.The deaths of valiant men are celebrated and recorded, as the spirit of heroism and legacy also emanates from the ego of man and is symbolized upon the page. Such images as the death of Achilles and other heroes also symbolize the banking of the spirits of their own Trojan nations as the Greeks triumph and they (the Trojans) end the war in defeat. Yet, the voyage (to which Aeneas in Aeneid is subjected after the loss suffered by the Trojans) is reflective of the spirit that drives mankind ever forward toward its next conquest.
His travels, attended respectively by the malevolence as well as the good favor of the Juno and Venus, are marred as well as distinguished by his own mistakes and achievements. This represents the general spirit of man toward ventures and the ups and downs faced on the way to progress. The three stories told in the epics Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid represent this celebration of the progressive spirit of mankind, which rests upon belief in mankind’s endowment (by the gods) with distinction and power to strive against odds and come out on top.
