The Epic

1. An “epic” is a story told in a poem format that retells the heroic or legendary deeds of a hero.

2. Characteristics of an Epic:

a. The main character or protagonist is heroically larger than life, often the source and subject of legend or a national hero: Line 129 “And Achilles, strong, swift, and godlike:” This line portrays Achilles as being “larger than life”, even though he is a simple human being.

b. Use of patronymics (calling son by father's name): "Anchises' son": Line 76-77 “Then rose up Calchas, son of Thestor, bird-reader supreme,” Line 107-108 “Then rose up Atreus’ son, the warlord Agamemnon,” In both of these lines, instead of just saying Calchas the bird-reader or Agamemnon the warlord, they are shown as being sons of others instead of people within themselves.

c. Long, formal speeches by important characters: Line 158-181 “Achilles looked him and down and said: ‘You shameless, profiteering excuse for a commander! How are you going to get any Greek warrior to follow you into battle again? You know I don’t have any quarrel with the Trojans, they didn’t do anything to me to make me come over here and fight, didn’t run off my cattle or horses or ruin my farmland back home in Phthia, not with all the shadowy mountains and moaning seas between. It’s for you, dogface, for your precious pleasure-and Menelaus’ honor- that we came here, a fact you don’t have the decency even to mention! And now you’re threatening to take away the prize that I sweated for and the Greeks gave me. I never get a prize equal to yours when the army captures one of the Trojan strongholds. No, I do all the dirty work with my own hands, and when the battle’s over and we divide the loot you get the lion’s share and I go back to the ships with some pitiful little thing, so worn out from fighting I don’t have the strength left even to complain. Well, I’m going back to Phthia now. Far better to head home with my curved ships than to stay here, unhonored myself and piling up a fortune for you.” This is a long speech given by Achilles explaining to Agamemnon how even though he is a great warrior and makes the Greek army amazing, he gets next to nothing when the battle is over while Agamemnon gets all the riches and prizes.

3. This is a picture of Archimonde at the World Tree. I chose this picture because this is how one of the Wars finally ended. Archimonde was trying to siphon the power of the Tree of Life, Nordrassil, but the guardian wisps of the surrounding forest basically gave up all their lives in order for the Tree of Life to survive Archimonde’s and the Legion’s wrath. After Archimonde was defeated, the ties that the Horde and the Alliance had together with each other basically disintegrated.