Epic is a large-scale ancient work among long folk narrative poems. It uses poetic language to describe the legends of various ethnic groups about the formation of heaven and earth, the origin of mankind, as well as major events such as ethnic migration, ethnic wars, and the glorious achievements of national heroes. It is a visual history of the nation in a specific period. Various ethnic groups in China have rich epic works, such as "Gesar (S)er" circulated by the Tibetan and Mongolian people, "Janggar" by the Mongolian people, "Manas" by the Kirgiz people, "Genesis" by the Naxi people, "Axi's Xianji" of the Yi people and "Ancient Songs" of the Miao people; famous foreign epic works include: the Greek Homeric epics "The Odyssey" and "The Iliad", and the Indian "Mahabharata" and "Rama" "Yana", Finland's "Kalevala", Germany's "Nibelungenlied", etc.
Epic is a type of folk narrative poem, a long poem that sings about historical themes. It was developed on the basis of short stories such as ballads and myths and legends written by Touqi among the people. According to its content, it can be divided into two categories: mythological epic and heroic epic.
There are quite a lot of Chinese epics from ethnic minorities in my country, such as "Ancient Songs of the Miao", "Axi's Xianji", "Genesis", "Meige" and so on. Classical heroic epics mostly occurred at the end of primitive society and the early stage of class society. Most of the heroes it praises are tribal leaders, who are the ideal national heroes of the people. For example, the ancient Greek Homeric epics "Iliad" and "The Odyssey" (15,693 lines), the ancient Indian Sanskrit epics "Mahabharata" and "Ramana" (more than 300,000 lines), and the Tibetan "Jiang River" in my country. "Ger" and so on, are all giant heroic epics with world influence. In addition, the British "Beowulf", the French "Song of Roland", the Spanish "Cid", the German "Nibelungenlied", the Russian "Igor's Expedition", etc. are also Very famous.
Epic is a precious literary heritage. As Marx said, Homer's epic expresses the "innocence of human childhood" that is gone and has "eternal charm."
Homer's Epic
The history of Greece from the 11th century BC to the 9th century BC is called the "Homeric Age", named after Homer's epic. Homer's epic poems are the only written historical sources of this period.
It is said that the Homeric epic was written by the blind poet Homer. In fact, it is a collective oral creation of many folk troubadours. The epic includes centuries of oral traditions since the Mycenaean civilization, and was not written down until the 6th century BC. As a historical material, it not only reflects the social situation from the 11th century BC to the 9th century BC, but also reflects the Mycenaean civilization.
Homer's epic poem consists of two parts: "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey". The Homeric epic composed of these two epics has concise language, vivid plots, vivid images and strict structure. It is a famous masterpiece in the ancient world.
"The Iliad" tells the story of the Greek coalition's siege of Troy, a city in Asia Minor. It centers on the quarrel between the Greek coalition commander Agamemnon and the brave general Achilles, and focuses on the end of the war. events that occurred in the past few days. The Greek allied forces besieged Troye for ten years but failed to defeat it. The brave general Achilles resented the commander Agamemnon for taking his female prisoner and refused to fight. Later, because his friend died in the battle, he came back to fight. Prince Hector of Troy died heroically fighting Axili. King Priam of Troy begged for Hector's body and held a funeral. This is the end of the story described in "The Iliad".
"The Odyssey" tells the story of Odyssey, King of Idaka, who wandered for ten years on his way back to his country after conquering Troy. It only focuses on the last year and dozens of days of this decade. Odyssey was tricked by the gods and drifted on the sea for ten years on his way home, suffering misfortunes everywhere. Finally, he was merciful by the gods and finally returned home. When Odysseus was living in a foreign land, the nobles of Idaka and neighboring countries bullied his wife and children. He proposed to his wife, Pinerope, and forced her to remarry. Pinerope tried every means to delay. In the end, Odysseus returned home disguised as a beggar, killed all the suitors with his son, and restored his power in Idaka.
Like other nations in the world, the history of ancient Greece was preserved in the memories of its ancient ancestors in the form of legends, and later became popular among people in the form of epic poems. According to legend. Although such legends and epics are not true historical works, they retain many historical facts of ancient society and have important historical value. Therefore, it can be said that they have already possessed certain functions and properties of history. They directly gave birth to ancient Greek historiography.
"Homer's Epic" records the heroic deeds of the ancient Greek ancestors in their wars with foreign nations and their struggle with nature. It is divided into two parts: one is "Iliad" (Iliad), which describes the ancient Greeks' conquest of the Trojans; the other is "Odyssey" (Odyssey), which describes the Greek hero Odysseus who participated in the Trojan War. Banshi lost his way on the way and drifted for 10 years before returning to his hometown and what he saw and heard along the way.
"Homer's Epic" was not written by one person at a time, but a history that remains in the memory of all Greeks. After the Trojan War, folk singers and folk artists in some Greek city-states compiled lyrics about the heroic deeds and victories of the Greeks in the war and sang them in public gatherings.
These stories were passed down orally by folk singers, and after centuries of continuous additions and modifications, they were cut into two parts by Homer and became a final work. Around the middle of the 6th century BC, when Pisistratus (about 605-527 BC) was in power in Athens, it was finally fixed in writing. The "Homeric Epic" we see today was a work compiled by Alexandrian scholars in the 3rd to 2nd centuries BC.
Heroic epics are based on certain historical facts. "Homer's Epic" shows us the social conditions of the Greeks from the 12th century BC to the 9th century BC, as well as the transitional form of the Greeks from clans and communes to a slave society. From "Homer's Epic", we can see that in the process of transforming from clan commune to state, ancient Greece did not suffer any violent interference from the outside or inside; the state organization of ancient Greece was purely through the creation and creation of private property. Class divisions arise directly from clan communes.
On the other hand, the content descriptions in heroic epics are full of myths and legends. The heroes in "Homer's Epic" either have the blood of God or have the power given by God. They are often able to determine the direction of historical change at critical junctures in historical development. Therefore, in a sense, heroic epics promote a heroic view of history. It's just that the heroic history view expressed in heroic epics is different from the heroic history view in later Western society.
The heroic epic uses a magical tone to describe the image of the hero and highlights the hero's dominant position in the process of historical development. Its purpose is not to belittle the public, but precisely to elevate the Greeks who are the descendants of those heroes. People are meant to elevate those who create and disseminate heroic deeds themselves. Because a nation with heroic ancestors is something to be proud of. The reason why heroic epics can be circulated for a long time and widely is not only because they can entertain people's ears and eyes, but more importantly, they can inspire people's minds, inspire people's fighting spirit, guide people to remember the heroic deeds of their ancestors, and inherit and carry forward the traditions of their ancestors. Glory and struggle for survival like our heroic ancestors. It is for this reason that various city-states in Greece at that time were competing to respect the heroes in Homer's epic as their ancestors. Even Homer himself became the object of competition and worship among the city-states.
In addition, and more importantly: in "Homer's Epic", the original concept of "history" of the ancient Greeks has appeared, and in some chapters there are also words expressing the concept of "history" words. Although the meaning of this word when used in epic poetry is uncertain, it at least includes the meaning of obtaining the truth through investigation of the testimony provided by eyewitnesses. Later, the word "history" in Greek evolved directly from this meaning.
Like other nations in the world, the history of ancient Greece was preserved in the memories of its ancient ancestors in the form of legends, and later became popular among people in the form of epic poems. According to legend. Although such legends and epics are not true historical works, they retain many historical facts of ancient society and have important historical value. Therefore, it can be said that they have already possessed certain functions and properties of history. They directly gave birth to ancient Greek historiography.