Editing Epic poetry (section)

=== Conventions ===
==== Proem ====
In the [[proem]] or preface, the poet may begin by invoking a [[Muse]] or similar divinity. The poet prays to the Muses to provide them with divine inspiration to tell the story of a great hero.<ref>{{cite journal
 |last=Battles |first=Paul
 |year=2014
 |title=Toward a theory of Old English poetic genres: Epic, elegy, wisdom poetry, and the "traditional opening"
 |journal= Studies in Philology
 |volume=111 |issue=1 |pages=1–34
 |doi=10.1353/sip.2014.0001
 |s2cid=161613381
}}</ref>

Example opening lines with invocations:
:Sing goddess the baneful wrath of Achilles son of Peleus – ''[[Iliad]]'' 1.1

:Muse, tell me in verse of the man of many wiles – ''[[Odyssey]]'' 1.1

:From the Heliconian Muses let us begin to sing – [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' 1.1

:Beginning with thee, Oh [[Phoebus]], I will recount the famous deeds of men of old – ''[[Argonautica]]'' 1.1

:Muse, remember to me the causes – ''[[Aeneid]]'' 1.8

:Sing Heav'nly Muse, that on the secret top
:of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire – ''[[Paradise Lost]]'' 1.6–7

An alternative or complementary form of proem, found in Virgil and his imitators, opens with the [[performative verb]] "I sing". Examples:

:I sing arms and the man – ''[[Aeneid]]'' 1.1

:I sing pious arms and their captain – ''[[Gerusalemme liberata]]'' 1.1

:I sing ladies, knights, arms, loves, courtesies, audacious deeds – ''[[Orlando Furioso]]'' 1.1–2

This Virgilian epic convention is referenced in [[Walt Whitman]]'s poem title / opening line "I sing the body electric".<ref>{{cite book
 |author=Whitman, W. |author-link=
 |title=[[Leaves of Grass]]
}}{{full citation needed|date=August 2021|reason=year / edition (note there were several), page number and line number in that edition (some of Whitman's poems have almost no breaks between them, modern editions have breaks inserted in these, hence year (edition), page, and line are needed).}}</ref>

Compare the first six lines of the ''[[Kalevala]]'':
:Mastered by desire impulsive,
:By a mighty inward urging,
:I am ready now for singing,
:Ready to begin the chanting
:Of our nation's ancient folk-song
:Handed down from by-gone ages.

These conventions are largely restricted to European classical culture and its imitators. The ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'', for example, or the ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]'' do not contain such elements, nor do early medieval Western epics that are not strongly shaped by the classical traditions, such as the ''[[Chanson de Roland]]'' or the ''[[Poem of the Cid]]''.

==== In medias res ====
Narrative opens "[[In medias res|in the middle of things]]", with the hero at his lowest point. Usually flashbacks show earlier portions of the story. For example, the ''[[Iliad]]'' does not tell the entire story of the Trojan War, starting with the [[judgment of Paris]], but instead opens abruptly on the rage of Achilles and its immediate causes. So too, ''[[Orlando Furioso]]'' is not a complete biography of Roland, but picks up from the plot of ''[[Orlando Innamorato]]'', which in turn presupposes a knowledge of the [[Chivalric romance|romance]] and [[oral tradition]]s.

==== Enumeratio ====
[[Epic catalogue]]s and genealogies are given, called ''[[enumeratio]]''. These long lists of objects, places, and people place the finite action of the epic within a broader, universal context, such as the [[catalog of ships]]. Often, the poet is also paying homage to the ancestors of audience members. Examples:
* In ''[[The Faerie Queene]]'', the list of trees I.i.8–9.
* In ''[[Paradise Lost]]'', the list of demons in Book&nbsp;I.<ref>{{cite journal
 |last=Quint |first=David
 |date=Spring 2007
 |title=Milton's ''Book of Numbers'': Book&nbsp;1 of ''Paradise Lost'' and its catalogue
 |journal=International Journal of the Classical Tradition
 |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=528–549
 |doi=10.1007/bf02923024 |jstor=30222176
|s2cid=161875103
 }}</ref>
* In the ''[[Aeneid]]'', the list of enemies the Trojans find in [[Etruria]] (Central Italy) in Book&nbsp;VII. Also, the list of ships in Book&nbsp;X.<ref>{{cite book
 |editor=Perkell, Christine
 |year=1999
 |title=Reading Vergil's Aeneid: An interpretative guide
 |series=Oklahoma Series in Classical Culture
 |volume=23 |pages=190–194
 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press
 |isbn=978-0-8061-3139-9
 |url=http://www.oupress.com/ECommerce/Book/Detail/909/reading%20vergil%20s%20aeneid
}}</ref>
* In the ''[[Iliad]]'',<ref>{{cite journal
 |last=Gaertner |first=Jan Felix
 |year=2001
 |title=The Homeric catalogues and their function in epic narrative
 |journal=[[Hermes (publication)|Hermes]]
 |volume=129 |issue=3 |pages=298–305
 |jstor=4477439
}}</ref> the [[Catalogue of Ships]], the most famous epic catalogue, and the [[Trojan Battle Order]]

==== Stylistic features ====
In the Homeric and post-Homeric tradition, epic style is typically achieved through the use of the following stylistic features:
* Heavy use of repetition or stock phrases: e.g., [[Epithets in Homer|Homer]]'s "rosy-fingered dawn" and "wine-dark sea".
* [[Homeric simile|Epic similes]]