Epic Poem and Beowulf - full summary, Schemi e mappe concettuali di Inglese

Scarica Epic Poem and Beowulf - full summary e più Schemi e mappe concettuali in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! THE EPIC POEM The word ‘epic’ comes from the Greek noun épos, which means ‘oral exposition’. The two major epic poems in Western tradition are the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to the Greek poet Homer. Later examples of epic poems are Virgil’s Aeneid and the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf. The epic poem is a long narrative poetic composition, in which it deals with the memory of a glorious past of a country and the brave deeds of the heroes. The society described in the epic poetry is aristocratic and military, often descriptions of supernatural creatures are found. The Narrative Of the epic poem is made up by a series of type-scenes such as banquet, the battle, the voyage and the funeral. An important feature is its being an objective narrative, as the ideals and customs of their country are not criticized. The purpose of the poem is the celebration of heroic values, that is, all men should perform actions that lead to glory. The style is elevated. BEOWULF Anglo-Saxon culture and language survived Christianity thanks to the SCOPS, who are poets, singers, historians, teachers. They had a very important role and position in Anglo-Saxon society, they were the main source of entertainment for the court and custodians of culture. Their stories and epic ballads were rarely written and as a result many were lost. Alfred the Great fostered alphabetization through the founding of a court school, the transcription and translation of works into English, and the demand for cultured people for roles of authority. Thanks to him we have 400 surviving manuscripts written in Anglo-Saxon or Old English. One such manuscript, The Nowell Codex contains the earliest example of English epic poetry, Beowulf. Written in Old English, Beowulf is the oldest surviving epic poem in the English language, probably written down by monks between the 8th and 11th centuries. Although historical elements run through the poem, both the hero and the story are fiction. Beowulf is the first epic hero in English literature, and he's also the first dragon-slayer in English culture. Thanks to this poem we have a clear vision of Anglo-Saxon society because it is written in the language of the common people and gives us a clear vision of the social structure and daily life of these people, but also of other older cultures, because the stories were told. orally from previous generations, so we can probably see what people from Denmark and Sweden considered their values. Their code of values and in particular the Hero code was composed of: Physical strength, speaking skills, language, pursuit of glory, justice and vengeance, brotherhood, WYRD that is destiny, where forces beyond one's control determine the life of a man. THE STORY The first actions take place in Denmark, where the king has built a great mead hall, Heorot, where his warriors can gather, but a terrible monster, Grendel, has scared the Danes for twelve years, until Beowulf arrives in Denmark, fights the monster and kills it. Later, Beowulf dives into a misty lake and fights the monster's mother and manages to kill her. Then he returns to Sweden and becomes the king of the Geats, a Germanic people and reigns here for fifty years, bringing prosperity to his country. In the last part of the poem an elderly Beowulf confronts and kills a fire- breathing dragon that terrorizes his own land, but is mortally wounded. THEMES Beowulf describes a warrior society, in which the relationship between the leader and his warriors is founded on loyalty. The warriors were so loyal also because if they won the war, they caught some lands and so money. Their world is ruled by fate and destiny. The poem setting of the story covers vast lands and far off places and the action consists of brave deeds. The struggles the poem describes are the classic challenges of good against evil. THE LINGUISTIC STYLE Beowulf contains the typical elements of the epic style. There are many repetitions, the speeches are often followed by phrases such as "so he spoke", to emphasize that the words are those of a character and not of the narrator. The language is high and there are long lists, especially of leaders and their warriors, and there are a lot of Christian elements.