The Modern Scholar

Monsters, Gods, and Heroes: Approaching the Epic in Literature

By: Prof. Timothy Shutt

Narrated by: Richard M. Davidson

From the very outset in the West - from the time of Homer himself in about 750 BCE - the epic has been the most highly regarded of literary genres. It is rivaled only by tragedy, which arose a bit more than two centuries later, as the most respected, the most influential, and, from a slightly different vantage point, the most prestigious mode of addressing the human condition in literary terms. The major epics are the big boys, the works that, from the very outset, everyone had heard of and everyone knew, at least by reputation. They are the works that had the most profound and most enduring cultural influence. And they are very much with us still, some more than others, but all - or all the most successful ones - are more or less firmly enshrined in cultural memory. They are still read. They are still taught. They still gain imitators and admirers. The stories they tell still shape our imagination and aspirations.Download the accompanying reference guide.©2004 Timothy Shutt (P)2004 Recorded Books

Insightful even if you've read the books

What made the experience of listening to The Modern Scholar the most enjoyable?

I have read all the books he is talking about and have been doing a lot of studying on literary theory. He hits on most of tjose points and brings up several good ones that I havent heard before.

What does the narrator bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

A deeper analysis on the meaning of the texts.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

8 Hrs is a long tkme to sit in one sitting.

The Epic Looking Backwards and Forward

I’ve followed Professor Shutt’s work on Recorded Books now thankfully still on Audible for some years. Only recently came across his title “Monsters, Gods, and Heroes: Approaching the Epic in Literature”. Not knowing quite what to expect, but curious having studied classical Latin and Greek in high school, reading bits of the Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid before moving into studying engineering. At MIT, when a reflective open mind was still thought a good attribute in a well rounded professional, I found myself reading Dante’s Inferno. At U of M grad school getting my MSEE, my thoughtful engineering professor adviser told me what he was teaching me would probably be obsolete in ten years; and I should walk around campus to interact with others also finding a way forward in other studies. The preface of this book followed by Professor Shutt’s lectures are a fascinating 3,000+ year journey. They trace the Epic’s development - a storytelling form dealing with fundamental human concerns: conflict, love, death, is there a God or hereafter. They’re specific to each culture, its ideas, and its present. Before writing they began as rythmic memorized chants, then songs, then written poetry at writing’s invention, then prose novels in the 18th through 20th centuries. What’s next? Books and ebooks for repetition and reflection, synchronized with audio or multimedia. This audiobook is well worth the listen to its talented, thoughtful author/narrator.

Epic

Loved it. Highly recommend. Breaks down history of epics and what constitutes them. I just wish it fleshed out the stories even more.