Epic Poetry

As to that poetic imitation which is narrative in form and employs a single metre, the plot manifestly ought, as in a tragedy, to be constructed on dramatic principles. It should have for its subject a single action, whole and complete, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. It will thus resemble a living organism in all its unity, and produce the pleasure proper to it. It will differ in structure from historical compositions, which of necessity present not a single action, but a single period, and all that happened within that period to one person or to many, little connected together as the events may be. For as the sea-fight at Salamis and the battle with the Carthaginians in Sicily took place at the same time, but did not tend to any one result, so in the sequence of events, one thing sometimes follows another, and yet no single result is thereby produced. Such is the practice, we may say, of most poets. Here again, then, as has been already observed, the transcendent excellence of Homer is manifest. He never attempts to make the whole war of Troy the subject of his poem, though that war had a beginning and an end. It would have been too vast a theme, and not easily embraced in a single view. If, again, he had kept it within moderate limits, it must have been over-complicated by the variety of the incidents. As it is, he detaches a single portion, and admits as episodes many events from the general story of the war—such as the Catalogue of the ships and others—thus diversifying the poem. All other poets take a single hero, a single period, or an action single indeed, but with a multiplicity of parts. Thus did the author of the Cypria and of the Little Iliad. For this reason the Iliad and the Odyssey each furnish the subject of one tragedy, or, at most, of two; while the Cypria supplies materials for many, and the Little Iliad for eight—the Award of the Arms, the Philoctetes, the Neoptolemus, the Eurypylus, the Mendicant Odysseus, the Laconian Women, the Fall of Ilium, the Departure of the Fleet.

Narrative poetry written in a single meter should clearly have a plot built on dramatic principles, like a tragedy. Its subject should be one whole and complete action, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. It will then have the unity of a living organism and give the pleasure proper to it. Its structure will differ from that of historical works. Such works must present not a single action, but a single period. They present everything that happened during that period to one person or to many, however loosely connected the events may be. The sea-fight at Salamis and the battle with the Carthaginians in Sicily happened at the same time. Yet they did not lead to a single outcome. Likewise, one event sometimes follows another without producing a single outcome. This, we may say, is the practice of most poets. Here again, as already noted, Homer’s extraordinary excellence is clear. He never tries to make the whole Trojan War the subject of his poem, though the war had a beginning and an end. The subject would have been too vast to grasp easily as a whole. If he had kept it within moderate limits, the variety of events would have made it too complicated. Instead, he takes one part of the war as his subject. He includes many events from the wider story as episodes, such as the Catalogue of the ships and others. In this way, he gives the poem variety. All other poets choose a single hero, a single period, or an action that is single but has many parts. The authors of the Cypria and the Little Iliad did this. For this reason, the Iliad and the Odyssey each provide the subject for one tragedy, or at most two. The Cypria, however, provides material for many, and the Little Iliad for eight: the Award of the Arms, the Philoctetes, the Neoptolemus, the Eurypylus, the Mendicant Odysseus, the Laconian Women, the Fall of Ilium, and the Departure of the Fleet.