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epic

(Encyclopedia)epic, long, exalted narrative poem, usually on a serious subject, centered on a heroic figure. The earliest epics, known as primary, or original, epics, were shaped from the legends of an age when a n...

beast epic

(Encyclopedia)beast epic: see bestiary.

epic theater

(Encyclopedia)epic theater: see Brecht, Bertolt; Piscator, Erwin.

Gudrun

(Encyclopedia)Gudrun goo´droon [key] or Kudrunkoo´– [key], in Germanic literature. 1 Heroine of the Icelandic epic, the Volsungasaga. 2 Heroine and title person of an anonymous Middle High German epic wri...

König Rother

(Encyclopedia)König Rother kön´k rt´r [key], earliest heroic minstrel epic from the precourtly period of Middle High German literature. Written in Bavaria in popular verse style by an unknown Rhenish poet...

Gilgamesh

(Encyclopedia)Gilgamesh gl´gmsh [key], in Babylonian legend, king of Uruk. He is the hero of the Gilgamesh epic, written on 12 tablets c.2000 BC and discovered among the ruins at Nineveh. The epic was lost w...

Oña, Pedro de

(Encyclopedia)Oña, Pedro de p´r ´nyä [key], 1570?–1643, Chilean poet. Having been born in Latin America, he is considered Chile's first national poet. His poetry is both epic and religious. Ins...

chansons de geste

(Encyclopedia)chansons de geste shäNsôN´ d zhst [key] [Fr.,=songs of deeds], a group of epic poems of medieval France written from the 11th through the 13th cent. Varying in length from 1,000 to 20,000 lines...

Ramayana

(Encyclopedia)Ramayana rämä´yn [key] [story of Rama], classical Sanskrit epic of India, probably composed in the 3d cent. BC Based on numerous legends, it is traditionally the work of Valmiki, one of the min...

Arany, János

(Encyclopedia)Arany, János yä´nôsh ´rny [key], 1817–82, Hungarian poet. Arany is considered one of the founders of modern Hungarian poetry. He was an actor, notary, editor, and professor of Hungarian l...