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However, the nebulous definitions assigned to even the long-standing ancient epics due to their ubiquitous presence across vastly differing cultures and traditions, are still a topic of discourse for today's literary academics, and have caused lingering difficulties in creating a definitive definition for the umbrella term of “epic” as a genre.
The primary form of epic, especially as discussed in this article, is the heroic epic, including such works as the Iliad and Mahabharata. Ancient sources also recognized didactic epic as a category, represented by such works as Hesiod 's Works and Days and Lucretius's De rerum natura .
With likely origins in oral tradition, the narrative technique of beginning a story in medias res is a stylistic convention of epic poetry, the exemplars in Western literature being the Iliad and the Odyssey (both 7th century BC), by Homer. [3] Likewise, the Mahābhārata (c. 8th century BC – c. 4th century AD) opens in medias res.
Literary fiction is a term that distinguishes certain fictional works that possess commonly held qualities to readers outside genre fiction. [citation needed] Literary fiction is any fiction that attempts to engage with one or more truths or questions, hence relevant to a broad scope of humanity as a form of expression.
Olrik's thought on 'epic laws' was part of a wider project, developed with Kristian Erslev, for understanding oral narrative (which Olrik called sagn in Danish), also including principles for the study of sources and a theory of transmission. [5] Although Olrik drew on non-European material, his focus was explicitly on European folk narrative.
The Epic of Gilgamesh (/ ˈ ɡ ɪ l ɡ ə m ɛ ʃ /) [2] is an epic from ancient Mesopotamia.The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian poems about Gilgamesh (formerly read as Sumerian "Bilgames" [3]), king of Uruk, some of which may date back to the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2100 BCE). [1]
Plot is the cause‐and‐effect sequence of main events in a story. [1] Story events are numbered chronologically while red plot events are a subset connected logically by "so". In a literary work, film, or other narrative, the plot is the sequence of events in which each event affects the next one through the principle of cause-and-effect ...
High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy [1] defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot. [2] High fantasy is usually set in an alternative, fictional ("secondary") world , rather than the "real" or "primary" world. [ 2 ]