Question

Based on epics and legends you have studied in this unit and other epics you have read in previous courses, why do you think epic narratives were important in ancient culture?

Answer 1

I answered this on a test but I got points off for not having enough. Can anyone help me with this so I can add onto it?

Answer 2

i think because they told stories and everyone were able to know them even when the people who had such legends died they were passed to everyone and everyone heard it one day or another so its like how we believe in Christ we didnt see it but we heard it and we believe it

Answer 3

Epic stories may tend to be about people who achieve things that others do not, and thus may act as "role models".
I don't know how long in either writing or in time something has to be to be an "epic", but things that I would associate with "epicity" (?) would be, say, the break of the Israeli culture of Judaism (Jews) into Christianity by the "epic" events reported around the last few years of Jesus' life. This story was made into the film "The Greatest Story Ever Told", and ends with the actor John Wayne, playing the part of a Roman soldier saying something like "indeed this was the son of god".
Currently, there is an epic going on in India. India loves the sport of cricket. In the area, England have embarked on a tour of Bangladesh and India playing Test Matches (the highest/purest/most demanding form of cricket). Each match lasts 5 days. altogether there are 7 of them, with the seventh going on now. And, the Indian state of Madras, where the final test is being played, is recovering from the damage caused by a weather cyclone.
Apart from the sheer length of the cricket tour, a reason why I'd consider it as "epic" is because I'm getting to know the names of Indian cricketers, in a language I don't know. So, I know that the captain of India is called Virat Kohli, and that there's a bloke in the team called Jayant, which sounds, from a radio commentary like "giant" suggesting he's big. I don't know whether he is or not, but I've picked up those two names from the radio comm and a little bit of digging around.
Other "epic" people may included "Lawrence of Arabia" (wrote books "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom") a UK soldier who had a strong influence in "arabia" decades ago. Mahatma Gandhi, of India, who inspired the biographical film "Gandhi".
Arguably, the period from approximately 1900 to 1945 was an epic time in European/world history, featuring as it did, two world wars, and all the "social mechanics" that went with those wars. Again, there are names that are remembered, one of which is Winston Churchill, and his speeches to the UK population "I have nothing to offer you but blood sweat and tears ... " "we shall fight them on the beaches ... " being approximate quotes of speeches he made to the UK population exhorting resistance to the german army.

Answer 4

@XxErica_FireheartxX
@osprey

Thank you, this helped a lot.

Answer 5

@smallsucculent
That is good to read.