ENGL 307 - Epic Tradition

Institution:

University of Richmond

Subject:

Description:

The development of the epic, including works by Homer, Virgil, and Dante. Particular attention will be paid to the role of epic poetry in formulating notions of history and of national and cultural identity. Prerequisite(s): English 297 or 298 with a grade of C or better. Unit(s): 1 Additional Information: The epic is one of the oldest forms in literature, and it has proved remarkably durable over time. Originally, the form was a long narrative poem in elevated style, involving a protagonist or protagonists of heroic stature, who figured in a number of independent episodes loosely grouped together. It has proved a potent form, appropriated through history to a number of political, religious, and ideological projects. It has also proved highly adaptable to changing literary tastes and radical reformulations of what constitutes "the heroic." This course surveys the beginnings of English epic in Beowulf, and samples a range of texts, in whole or in part, from the following list among others: Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queen, John Milton's Paradise Lost, William Wordsworth's Excursion, Walt Whitman's Song of Myself, and T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets. Alternative versions, like the mock epic, are represented as well, by works like Pope's Rape of the Lock, Henry Fielding's Joseph Andrews, and Lord Byron's Don Juan.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.richmond.edu

Phone Number:

(804) 289-8000

Regional Accreditation:

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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