Favorite National Epic?

[jimmy olsen]

Voted for the Aeneid, though I too prefer the Odyssey.

[The Brain]

You forgot Poland. :p

I did it on purpose.

Timmy, I specifically said "National Epic" as several of these are in prose anyway. 

Moby-Dick seemed the best American answer to Milton and Dante, but that could be argued about.  Didn't want to leave out such an important country when we have Ireland there.

Why would America necessarily have a national epic?

The Uzbeks, Filipinos and Finns have one.  No way they get one and we don't.

At least you know in which tier you belong.

[jimmy olsen]

The US epic is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

This isn't even a subject of debate.

Great point, this man is absolutely right.

[Admiral Yi]

Shouldn't England's be King Arthur?

[Caliga]

The Odyssey's not noble enough, perhaps?  And preferring it's really recent.  Until the turn of the 20th century the emphasis was overwhelmingly on the Iliad.

I just think it's more interesting and amusing.  I have not read the Iliad in a while but IIRC large portions of it bored me.

[The Brain]

The US epic is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

This isn't even a subject of debate.

Great point, this man is absolutely right.

Except that it is unacceptably racist.

[Queequeg]

Moby Dick is not an epic poem.

You should have posted "John Brown's Body"

http://www.amazon.com/John-Browns-Stephen-Vincent-Benet/dp/092958726X/ref=cm_lmf_tit_15

Walt Whitman's America's epic poet.

I don't think the Shahnameh's considered an epic by anyone.  It's the Persian national book and series of tales but there's another Medieval Persian poem that is considered the national epic but I can't remember its name

My only objection to including the Shahnameh is that it is as much a regional epic as a national one, as Turks, Arabs and even Indians tend to know it pretty well.  And I've only heard of the Shahnameh referenced as the Persian national epic,  heck Ferdowsi is sometimes credited with helping save the Iranian language due to the influence of his poetry. 

[grumbler]

Except that it is unacceptably racist.

Only to those who have never read it.

[The Brain]

Except that it is unacceptably racist.

Only to those who have never read it.

Like Americans.

[Queequeg]

The US epic is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

This isn't even a subject of debate.

I'd say it is probably best if we split up the US; New England would get Moby-Dick, the South would get Huck Finn, etc......

[The Brain]

The US epic is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

This isn't even a subject of debate.

I'd say it is probably best if we split up the US; New England would get Moby-Dick, the South would get Huck Finn, etc......

But where would the madness end?

[Savonarola]

Sav, how did you vote?  You've had avatars and profile quotes from several of these.

The Illiad, one day I'll have to learn Ancient Greek to read it in the original.   

[Sheilbh]

Shouldn't England's be King Arthur?

Well there's not really a King Arthur that tells the story of Arthur as we know it.  Malory's books are largely a reinterpretation of existing French texts  But I think maybe the last book could count as a sort of national epic.  Things fall apart.

[Sheilbh]

My only objection to including the Shahnameh is that it is as much a regional epic as a national one, as Turks, Arabs and even Indians tend to know it pretty well.  And I've only heard of the Shahnameh referenced as the Persian national epic,  heck Ferdowsi is sometimes credited with helping save the Iranian language due to the influence of his poetry.

Yep, you're right.  The only person who doesn't think it's the Persian epic is the guy who wrote the introduction to the copy I've got

[Queequeg]

My only objection to including the Shahnameh is that it is as much a regional epic as a national one, as Turks, Arabs and even Indians tend to know it pretty well.  And I've only heard of the Shahnameh referenced as the Persian national epic,  heck Ferdowsi is sometimes credited with helping save the Iranian language due to the influence of his poetry.

Yep, you're right.  The only person who doesn't think it's the Persian epic is the guy who wrote the introduction to the copy I've got

What's the translation you are reading?  I'd love to read it, though I think I might end up studying Persian so hopefully I will one day read (if not all of, than maybe the first 20,000 pages) of it.