Home › Glossary › Letter E

Epic singer

Literary Character
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A performer or poet who recites epic verse, often in oral tradition.

Detailed Definition
An epic singer is a poet-performer in oral traditions who recites or chants lengthy narrative poems, often accompanied by music, preserving cultural history through formulaic phrases and mnemonic techniques; figures like Homer or West African griots embody the fusion of memory, artistry, and communal identity in pre-literate societies.
Example
Example in poetry:
Homer, the blind bard who recited the Iliad and Odyssey in ancient Greece; Demodocus, the court singer in The Odyssey who recounts tales of the gods; Virgil, who narrates The Aeneid as both poet and guide; the anonymous scop who performed Beowulf in Anglo-Saxon mead halls
Additional Notes
The performer, composer, or oral tradition bearer who recites or sings long narrative poems (epics); a key concept in the study of Homeric and other folk or oral traditions of poetry.
Also Known As
Bardic singer Epic bard Heroic minstrel Traditional tale-chanter Aoidos
Skip to main content