Date of Award
2008
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Program
Comparative Literature
Supervisor
Dr. Russell Poole
Abstract
This thesis proposes a definition of the epic genre that might transcend particular media and cultures without contradicting traditional, more limited, definitions of epic, and that would therefore remain useful as a classificatory tool. It compares three disparate works: Virgil’s Aeneid, the mediaeval Icelandic Grettis saga Asmundarsonar, and the 1996 film Star Trek: First Corttact. Begining with a synthesis drawn from literary theory from antiquity to the present, the thesis demonstrates that these three works may be considered representative of a specific kind of epic of cultural foundation. Their generic similarity stems from a comparable societal function performed by each work; it also has repercussions for the epic founder-heroes’ relationship to past and future society and to the epic narrative itself. The study concludes that the theme of the epic lineage, the interrelationship of the mytho-historical past, present, and future, is central to an understanding of the epic genre.
Recommended Citation
Arnott, Luke, "THE EPIC LINEAGE OF THE AENEID, GRETTIS SAGA ASMUNDARSONAR, AND STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT" (2008). Digitized Theses. 4518.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses/4518