EPIC

(noun)

A program, proposed in 1934 by Upton Sinclair, that called for public works projects, tax reform, and guaranteed pensions. It also proposed that unused farmland should be given to the unemployed who could there establish cooperative farms.

Related Terms

Examples of EPIC in the following topics:

  • Classical Greek Poetry and History

    • In the Western classical tradition, Homer is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest of ancient Greek epic poets.
    • These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.
    • The formative influence of the Homeric epics in shaping Greek culture was widely recognized, and Homer was described as the "Teacher of Greece".
    • The Iliad (sometimes referred to as the Song of Ilion or Song of Ilium) is an ancient Greek epic poem in dactylic hexameter.
    • Explain how epic poetry influenced the development of classical Greek historical texts.

  • Italics

    • This includes textbooks, fiction or nonfiction books, newspapers, magazines, academic journals, films, epic poems, plays, operas, musical albums, television shows, movies, works of art, and the names of legal cases.
    • Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey are my two favorite epic poems.

  • Babylonian Culture

    • One of the most famous of these was the Epic of Gilgamesh, in twelve books, translated from the original Sumerian by a certain Sin-liqi-unninni, and arranged upon an astronomical principle.
    • The origins of Babylonian philosophy can be traced back to early Mesopotamian wisdom literature, which embodied certain philosophies of life, particularly ethics, in the forms of dialectic, dialogs, epic poetry, folklore, hymns, lyrics, prose, and proverbs.

  • Art and Literature in the Roman Republic

    • Some of the earliest works we possess are historical epics telling the early military history of Rome, similar to the Greek epic narratives of Homer, Herodotus, and Thucydides.
    • Virgil, though generally considered to be an Augustan poet, represents the pinnacle of Roman epic poetry.
    • Lucretius, in his De rerum natura (On the Nature of Things), attempted to explicate science in an epic poem.

  • Political Critiques of the New Deal

    • While not really an opponent of Roosevelt, a socialist writer Upton Sinclair (known for his immensely influential 1906 novel The Jungle) popularized a program known as End Poverty in California (EPIC) that Roosevelt eventually considered to be too radical .
    • EPIC called for public works projects, tax reform, and guaranteed pensions.
    • Many farmers and unemployed workers supported EPIC although Sinclair lost the governorship of California in 1934.

  • Influence of the Mongols

    • The ruling classes were active patrons, and many paintings, illuminated manuscripts, and epics exist from the empire.
    • They include the proverbs attributed to Genghis Khan and the epics around the Khan's life.

  • Lagash and the Third Dynasty of Ur

    • Some scholars believe that the Uruk epic of Gilgamesh was written down during this period into its classic Sumerian form.
    • For example, the Ur III kings often claimed Gilgamesh's divine parents, Ninsun and Lugalbanda, as their own, to evoke a comparison to the epic hero.

  • The Mesopotamian Cultures

    • The earliest king authenticated through archaeological evidence is Enmebaragesi of Kish, whose name is also mentioned in the Gilgamesh epic (ca. 2100 BCE)—leading to the suggestion that Gilgamesh himself might have been a historical king of Uruk.
    • As the Epic of Gilgamesh shows, the second millennium BCE was associated with increased violence.

  • Analyzing Poetry

    • When we focus on formal similarities, we're concerned with genres, the different types or subcategories a poet has chosen (e.g. epic, lyric, satire).

  • Colons

    • A colon should be used to separate chapter and verse numbers in citations of passages in widely studied texts, such as epic poetry, religious texts, and the plays of William Shakespeare.