Etext prepared by David Starner SR Ellison and the Online DistributedProofing TeamNATIONAL EPICSBYKATE MILNER RABB1896TO MY MOTHERPREFACEThis volume is intended for an introduction to the study of the epicsWhile the simplicity and directness of the epic style seem to make such abook unnecessary the fact that to many persons of literary tastes some ofthese great poems are inaccessible and that to many more the pleasure ofexploring for themselves the realms of gold is rendered impossible bythe cares of business has seemed sufficient excuse for its being Thoughthe beauty of the original is of necessity lost in a condensation of thiskind an endeavor has been made to preserve the characteristic epithetsand to retain what Mr Arnold called the simple truth about the matter ofthe poem It is believed that the sketch prefacing each story givingbriefly the length versification and history of the poem will have itsvalue to those readers who have not access to the epics and that theselections following the story each recounting a complete incident willgive a better idea of the epic than could be formed from passagesscattered through the textThe epic originated among tribes of barbarians who deified departedheroes and recited legends in praise of their deeds As the hymndeveloped the chorus and strophe were dropped and the narrative only waspreserved The word epic was used simply to distinguish the narrativepoem which was recited from the lyric which was sung and from thedramatic which was actedAs the nation passed from childhood to youth the legends of the hero thateach wandering minstrel had changed to suit his fancy were collected andfused into one by some great poet who by his power of unification madethis written epic his ownThis is the origin of the Hindu epics the Iliad and the Odyssey theKalevala the ShahNameh Beowulf the Nibelungen Lied the Cidand the Song of RolandThe conditions for the production of the primitive epic exist but once ina nations growth Its later epics must be written on subjects of nationalimportance chosen by the poet who arranges and embellishes his materialaccording to the rules of the primitive epic To this class belong theAeneid the Jerusalem Delivered and the Lusiad Dantes poem isbroader for it is the epic of mediaeval Christianity Milton likewisesought higher argument than  Wars hitherto the only argument      Heroic deemedand crystallized the religious beliefs of his time in Paradise LostThe characteristics both of the primitive and the modern epic are theiruniform metre simplicity of construction concentration of action into ashort time and the use of episode and dialogue The main difference liesin the impersonality of the primitive epic whose author has so skillfullyhidden himself behind his work that as some one has said of Homer hisheroes are immortal but his own existence is doubtfulAlthough the historical events chronicled in the epics have in every casebeen so distorted by the fancy of the poets that they cannot be acceptedas history the epics are storehouses of information concerning ancientmanners and customs religious beliefs forms of government treatment ofwomen and habits of feelingConstructed upon the noblest principles of art and pervaded by theeternal calm of the immortals these poems have an especial value to uswho have scarcely yet realized that poetry is an art and are feverishfrom the unrest of our time If by the help of this volume any reader beenabled to find a portion of the wisdom that is hidden in these mines itspurpose will have been accomplishedMy thanks are due to Mr John A Wilstach for the use of selections fromhis translation of the Divine Comedy to Prof J M Crawford for theuse of selections from his translation of the Kalevala to Henry Holt Co for the use of selections from Rabillons translation of La Chansonde Roland to Roberts Brothers for the use of selections from EdwinArnolds Indian Idylls to Prof J C Hall for the use of selectionsfrom his translation of Beowulf and to A C Armstrong  Son for theuse of selections from Coningtons Translation of the Aeneid Theselections from the Iliad and the Odyssey are used with the permissionof and by special arrangement with Houghton Mifflin  Co publishers ofBryants translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey Special thanks aredue to Miss Eliza G Browning of the Public Library of Indianapolis toMiss Florence Hughes of the Library of Indiana University and to MissCharity Dye of IndianapolisK M RINDIANAPOLIS IND September 1896CONTENTSTHE HINDU EPIC THE RAMÂYÂNATHE HINDU EPIC THE MAHÂBHÂRATATHE GREEK EPIC THE ILIADTHE GREEK EPIC THE ODYSSEYTHE FINNISH EPIC THE KALEVALATHE ROMAN EPIC THE AENEIDTHE SAXON EPIC BEOWULFTHE GERMAN EPIC THE NIBELUNGEN LIEDTHE FRENCH EPIC THE SONG OF ROLANDTHE PERSIAN EPIC THE SHAHNAMEHTHE SPANISH EPIC THE POEM OF THE CIDTHE ITALIAN EPIC THE DIVINE COMEDYTHE ITALIAN EPIC THE ORLANDO FURIOSOTHE PORTUGUESE EPIC THE LUSIADTHE ITALIAN EPIC THE JERUSALEM DELIVEREDTHE ENGLISH EPIC PARADISE LOSTTHE ENGLISH EPIC PARADISE REGAINEDSELECTIONSFROM THE RÂMÂYANA                        TRANSLATOR  The Descent of the Ganges           _Milman_  The Death of Yajnadatta                 FROM THE MAHÂBHÂRATA  Sâvitrî or Love and Death         _Arnold_  The Great Journey                       FROM THE ILIAD  Helen at the Scaean Gates           _Bryant_  The Parting of Hector and Andromache    FROM THE ODYSSEY  The Palace of Alcinoüs              _Bryant_  The Bending of the Bow                  FROM THE KALEVALA  Ilmarinens Wedding Feast