On Epic Poetry, The Monomyth, and Societal Propaganda

I recently stumbled upon a copy of the 2006 translation of the Aeneid by Robert Fagles; written by the Roman poet Virgil and widely regarded as one of the greatest works in Latin literature, the Aeneid spans twelve books and compiles various legends surrounding the origin myth of Rome and its hero Aeneas, a Trojan. Although I did not get a chance to read through the poem this week, I was inspired to do some basic research about the genre of epic poetry and the theory of a ‘monomyth’ and theorize about their overall purpose.

 

  Defined by the English Oxford Dictionary as “A poem, typically derived from ancient oral tradition, which celebrates in the form of a continuous narrative the achievements of one or more heroic characters of history or legend,” the epic is formulaic in structure and tells the story of a “heroic-age” in the history of a civilization. The epic is narrated by a formal, objective voice, and can take hours or days to perform depending on its length. Epics serve an important social function, as they solidify national identity by describing founding myths and national heroes; they are typically the product of a society where warlike nobility seeks to perform heroic actions to obtain fame for themselves and their lineage.

 

An important theory of mythology that relates heavily to epics and literature is the existence of a ‘monomyth,’ or “hero’s journey,” first introduced by Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero With A Thousand Faces. This theory proposes the idea that there is a general structure that all myths created by human civilizations and cultures follow. It describes the trend of a hero venturing from the known into the unknown after being called to action by an external force; in this unknown world, the hero is transformed through a series of trials, and returns home having acquired benefits to bestow upon others. This structure can be observed in many epics; for example, in the Aeneid, Aeneas ventures out into the unknown as he flees the destroyed city of Troy, and ultimately returns to the known as he settles in Latium.

 

Having defined and introduced both the epic poetry genre and the theory of a ‘monomyth,’ we can now discuss why they were created by societies and what that means for our modern-day world. As mentioned previously, the epic poem serves to establish a strong national identity by recounting myths about a heroic figure in its founding history; in this way, it motivates the warrior aristocracy to perform heroic actions to obtain fame, thus benefiting society overall. The monomyth also encourages actions that will provide a civilization with benefits; by describing how venturing into the unknown brings one benefit, the monomyth encourages the members of a society to explore the unknown and therefore obtain more territory for themselves. Therefore, we can infer that the myths described by both epic poetry and the monomyth theory are the inventions of a budding civilization that needs to develop a strong national identity and acquire more resources for that identity; therefore, it creates myths and uses them to encourage resource-seeking through fighting with neighboring civilizations and exploration, furthering its agenda in a manner akin to modern propaganda. Overall, both epic poetry and the monomyth demonstrate how people can be influenced by the stories that society tells and the common themes it perpetuates. Thus, as writers, we should be careful about what we convey in our work, as it will influence the thinking and decisions of the people who read it. 

- Jade Li

Works Cited

Gill, N. S. "The Genre of Epic Literature and Poetry." ThoughtCo, 10 May 2019, www.thoughtco.com/epic-literature-and-poetry-119651. Accessed 15 Oct. 2020.

"Monomyth: The Hero's Journey Project." Berkeley ORIAS, Berkeley UC, orias.berkeley.edu/resources-teachers/monomyth-heros-journey-project. Accessed 16 Oct. 2020.

Yoshida, Atsuhiko. "Epic." Encyclopædia Britannica, 18 Oct. 2019, www.britannica.com/art/epic. Accessed 16 Oct. 2020.