Epic Conventions Sheet

Agreed upon ways of doing things for writing epics

Invocation to the Muse, In medias res, stock speeches, homeric epithets, homeric similes

Epics start with a prayer to one of the daughters of Zeus for inspiration or help in telling the story

Epics start in the middle of the story with many gaps in information, and then flashbacks explain what is going on

Long speeches of many lines that are repeated verbatim at different points in the story to help act as waypoints for storytellers and give them time to remember what happens next or improvise, often associated with an event or character

Words or phases repeated throughout the poem in association with a certain character or event to make it easier for storytellers to remember descriptions

Elaborate, detailed similes written many lines in length

Poetry composed by signers or reciters, which incorporates set words, word formulas, or word patterns to help the performer improvise a narrative or song on a given theme and also to help recall a poem learned from someone else

A long narrative poem, detailing the adventures of a hero, in formal or elevated language, replete with descriptions of battles or armor, where the hero has the virtues admired by his culture, and the fate of the nation depends on the hero

Homer was blind, but not much else is known about him

The Odyssey was written about 2500 years ago orally