Why are epics set against the destruction of great civilization?

Answer 1

Epics are not always set against such a background. Milton's great philosophic/religious epic Paradise Lost is a notable example of this, being rather concerned with the myth of Genesis concerning the Fall of Man, related in Milton's own interpretation of the great tragedy. One of the projenitors of all epics, The Odyssey of Homer, concerns itself only in part with the destruction of a great civilisation, namely that of Troy, and by no means focusses on only this single, though nonetheless greatly decisive, event of the life of the mythic hero Odysseus. The destruction that is of the greatest supreme importance in the epic is rather the end of the race of the heroes, for Odysseus was the last of the heroes and with his death passed the great CULTURE of the Golden Age of Man, though the CIVILISATION of Ithaca remains. Many other examples abound of course, including the great Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, concerning rather with the spiritual journeys of the man Gilgamesh than explicitly with the end of a civilisation; Malory's collection of Arthurian tales may also be named an epic in A MORE MODERN SENSE, and in no way concern itself with the said background; Tolstoy's War and Peace, hailed as the great Russian epic, again in the word's LESS STRICT SENSE, while dealing with the Napoleonic wars, has not its central themes in the destruction of the Russian civilisation, but rather in establishing Tolstoy's theory of history as moving on inexorably in its course, sweeping human fate along with it, as opposed to vice versa. To take an example of almost polar opposites, Virgil's Aeneid, far from being about the destruction of a civilisation, traces the life history of a man who is going to found a civilisation, namely Italy. An epic, in the STRICTEST SENSE, is a narrative poem on the grand scale (they are usually extremely long) and in majestic style concerning the exploits and adventures of a superhuman hero (or heroes) engaged in a quest or some serious endeavour. The hero is distinguished above all men by his strength and courage, and is restrained only by a sense of honour. The subject-matter of epic includes myth, legend, history, and folk tale. It is usually set in a heroic age of the past and embodies its country's early history and expresses its values. For this reason epics are often seen to have national character. Battles and perilous journeys play a large part, as do gods, the supernatural, and magic; scenes are often set in the Underworld or in heaven. Certain formal features are conspicuous: the narrator vouches for the truth of his story; there are invocations, elaborate greetings, long speeches, detailed similes, digressions, and the frequent repetition of 'typical' elements, for example the stock adjective or kennings, the stock scene such as the hero arming for battle. Epic expresses a delight in the physical world, shown by painstaking descriptions of such things as arms, clothing, or ships. In more modern usage, highly ambitious historical novels describing events on a great thematical scales have also enjoyed an extended use of the term, as Malory's Arthurian legends or Tolstoy's War and Peace. From this description, then, it is apparent that an epic by no means need to be based in the destruction of a civilisation. However, as such an event usually demands cultural action on a supreme scale, and usually implies great spiritual significance to the hero of whom the epic relates, it is certainly an appropriate subject and background to be narrated in the epic genre. Some epics, such as The Iliad, does indeed concern itself with such an event, but it is important to note that far from all epics do so.