Will Epic Poetry ever make a comeback? Should it?

>>9158672
I intend to write an epic poem about the Cold War, so we'll see.

>>9158672
If it ever came back it would probably only be ironically

>>9158739
I'd probably enjoy reading that.

>>9158739
Is the hero naked snake?

>>9158739
I'm writing one in a meter i invented and it will be horrible (i'm still excited)

>>9158759
Why'd it hav to turn into that batshit opera?

>>9158752
The Maximus Poems > Pound's unfinished work

>>9158672
Not sure what you mean by epic poetry desu, can we discuss the key elements which distinguishes it from regular storytelling. Or are we just talking about content?

>>9158739
sounds bad, there are no heroes and both sides are evil

good luck

>>9158822
Soviets are bad and America is good you fucking idiot

>>9158822
>sounds bad, there are no heroes and both sides are evil

So... Like the Iliad?

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the only thing of value to come out of communism desu

>>9158822
Modern storytelling is generally in the format of novellas/novels etc., written in prose. As you know yourself.
What I mean by epic poetry is simply that. The same epic poem format for storytelling used by Homer, Virgil, Dante, Milton, etc., written in verse (obviously).
The question is whether this format will ever become commonplace, and also whether it should.

>>9158853
Whitman pastiche desu

>>9158935
Not really.

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>>9158860
I feel like it could be done, and should be done.

But what should the subject be? It should be something national. The Iliad is the Greek Epic. The Aeneid is the Roman Epic. The Divine Comedy is the Catholic Epic, and Paradise Lost is the Protestant Epic. All of them are infused with the spirit of a people, a nation, a folk. Whether ethnic or ideological, the epics bind their races together and bring them along on their incredible journeys.

With that in mind, how could one write an epic today? What would be an epic for the modern world?

>>9159010
the Epic poem of the world would have to be mono-mythic, archetypal and lonely

>>9158822
>sounds bad, there are no heroes and both sides are evil

You really don't understand epic poetry.

>>9159025
Please enlighten me senpai.

I have read Homer Virgil and Dante.

>>9158994
oh, believe me, it is.

>>9159033
If you read the Iliad, you would see that there were no "good guys" or "bad guys"

>>9159049
It isn't.

>>9159074
It is.

http://www.neruda.uchile.cl/critica/falegria.html

>>9159071
If you read the Iliad, you would see that they were all good guys and you feel immense empathy and sympathy for both sides. You cry for Hector's wife and child when he goes out for the last time. You cry for Achilles when he laments the death of Patroclus and unleashes his holy rage.

There are no heros from he Cold War, there are no honorable or noble entities. Both sides are snakes with evil intentions. It is the exact opposite situation of the Iliad. I was not implying a good bad dichotemy, I was implying at least one necessary good moral noble hero for the reader to look up to and admire. 20+IliadCharacters, Odysseus, Aeneas, Virgil&Dante.

>>9159033
My point is that the inner workings of the form are more important than its superficial aspects.

And for that matter, it seems far more interesting as well as artistically satisfying to me that neither side in this case acted entirely virtuously (though as another person commented, this is equally true of the Iliad). Nor do I see how heroes - in the classical sense - are a necessary element. It is precisely the play of contrasts and resonances between a contemporary view of 20th century history, and an ancient view of mythological history which makes the premise an interesting one.

>>9159101
>all good guys

What are you talking about? Besides, the point is entirely debatable as to whether there are noble characters within that conflict. Don't blame others for your narrow-mindedness.

>>9159120
>Don't blame others for your narrow-mindedness.
what did he mean by this

>>9159107
your shitty morally bankrupt and emotionally unmoving "throwback" won't even make it into the footnotes. Stick to writing opinion pieces, not actual content. You are better at "anal lyzing" than actually feeling the literature.

>>9159190
I find it extremely amusing that you've decided it's "morally bankrupt and emotionally unmoving" before it's even been written. Nothing more needs to be said, really.

I'm not the same Anon who wrote the original comment, by the way. I just think it's interesting

>>9159190
And I enjoyed the 'anal lyzing' pun too. Most original.

>>9158782
Me too

>>9159190
t. 4chan intellectual

>>9159388
You both epitomize the era that we live in, I'm sure you will be counted among modern literary greats like Harry Potter and Fifty Shades of Grey and Bob Dylan.

Maybe the two world wars, the cold war or the future.

>>9158672
Mmmm. Sure. I mean, I don't like it much, but that doesn't mean it doesn't deserve a revival. But I think it's sort of archaic. I mean, isn't that just how people used to write?

Poetry is similar to songs, and since most people couldn't read or write, that's how they passed on information, by framing it in a way that made it easy to remember via mouth.

That's become redundant now that people can read.

>>9158851
In the Iliad both sides were good.

>>9159010
The 2016 American presidential elections.

>>9159958
The irony being that Harry Potter clearly fits into your understanding of what literature should be like.

>>9159010
Unironically Judgement Day

>>9160386
Gods are "the bad side". Just think about it.
>inb4 tips fedora

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>>9158672

>tfw Game of Thrones and Star Wars are the epics of today

>>9160412
Unironically this, plus Trump goverment, media shiek, triggerjw and isis stuff and shiet.

>>9158822
>there are no heroes and both sides are evil
How is that a bad thing?

There are things that we are forgetting in this discussion. The original epic poems were recited, largely improvised, accompanied by simple music and told to the common people, often, as >>9159010 pointed out, promoting unity among people.
Therefore, I believe that the next great epic poem will in fact be a 10-hour rap album describing the struggles of racial and sexual minorities and supporting muliticulturalism and tolerance.

>>9158739
don't let anyone discourage you that sounds great i wish we were friends so i could help and encourage you

>>9158672
>When the painter still can't even read Homer's massive description of the armor well enough to get it right

Shiggy.

>>9163399
Seconded.

>>9161837
This could work

>>9158672
It should, but I don't know if it will.

>>9158749
>>9158759
Thanks.

>>9158800
i like you

>>9158672
It's coming back next year actually

Screencap etc.

>>9158749
Have you read this? How is it?

>>9158860
I think the spirit of the Homeric and Virglian (is that right? Virgilic?) epics should come back. But I don't know if verse is the right form.

I think the innovations that have been made in prose shouldn't be ignored. Prose is a richer vehicle in which to tell an Epic story (epic in the full traditional sense). We don't need to do it in verse. But we also don't need it to be in clunky, exposition dumpish prose. Even if the epic is in prose, each line should count, no excess fat.

There is a spell that the Homeric epics cast that I think wouldn't work if it was in prose. So there is something to the verse format. I guess we won't really know unless someone tries it.

My point is that I think it would be great if our culture could rise again to the level needed to produce an Epic poet like Homer and epic poems like the ones written by the ancients. I don't think they need or should be in verse, but they should have their prosody should have the same level of efficacy. Perhaps adhering to some kind of meter would help in this, but I don't think it's needed.