As the hymn
developed, the chorus and strophe were dropped, and the narrative only was
preserved. The word "epic" was used simply to distinguish the narrative
poem, which was recited, from the lyric, which was sung, and from the
dramatic, which was acted.
As the nation passed from childhood to youth, the legends of the hero that
each wandering minstrel had changed to suit his fancy, were collected and
fused into one by some great poet, who by his power of unification made
this written epic his own.
This is the origin of the Hindu epics, the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey," the
"Kalevala," the "Shah-Nameh," "Beowulf," the "Nibelungen Lied," the "Cid,"
and the "Song of Roland."
The conditions for the production of the primitive epic exist but once in
a nation's growth. Its later epics must be written on subjects of national
importance, chosen by the poet, who arranges and embellishes his material
according to the rules of the primitive epic. To this class belong the
"Aeneid," the "Jerusalem Delivered," and the "Lusiad." Dante's poem is
broader, for it is the epic of mediaeval Christianity. Milton likewise
sought "higher argument" than
"Wars, hitherto the only argument
Heroic deemed,"
and crystallized the religious beliefs of his time in "Paradise Lost."
The characteristics both of the primitive and the modern epic are their
uniform metre, simplicity of construction, concentration of action into a
short time, and the use of episode and dialogue.
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