Page 53 - Studio International - May 1969

The epic

dimension

Michael Kustow

Some thoughts on the relevance of epic
to the plastic and narrative arts today,
provoked by a performance of Homer's Iliad
at the Royal College of Art.

What is epic? Epic is Western movies, epic there were plenty of exposed breasts —that I'd
is widescreen spectaculars with great battles like to draw out some of the thoughts it
or astounding achievements, epic is sporting suggested to me, because they seem to be
events which raise men to extraordinary feats important for both the plastic and the
of endurance, epic is sailing round the world narrative arts now.
singlehanded in a yacht, epic is Apollo 9. An artist selects from reality, and strives to
`Epic is ritual, contrived and unreal to a create an image which is more than what it
greater degree than most other art forms ... denotes, which reverberates beyond its literal
Within this contrivance a strong and con- meaning. What was revealed in an astonish-
sistent mood of realism is accomplished that ing way by this experience of the epic
has allowed successive generations of man to dimension was its comprehensiveness, the open-
appreciate Greek epic and identify with it.'1 handedness of its grasp of reality.
Epic has heroes. What are heroes ? Heroes The Iliad has a strong story, the war between
are generals, statesmen, racing drivers, the Greeks and the Trojans, a story as direct
mountain-climbers, courageous explorers, and familiar as a newspaper report from
kings, spacemen, sportsmen. 'Happy the Vietnam. Like any day's newspaper report,
country that needs no heroes', says Brecht's it starts in media res—we don't need to be led
Galileo. Heroes are men immortalized by through all the chronological steps before we
artists, translated into bronze or stone by start, we can pick up in midstream. And the
sculptors, sung by poets. 'Some men in past stream of narrative loops and winds, twisting
time have been so lifted up out of the ordin- into backwaters of reminiscence, ritual, song,
ary course of human events that they are returning to close-ups of fierce battle scenes,
remembered. It is mysterious, this mark that rising to the stage on which the gods appear,
falls upon some lives, and the bard in- animating horses (who speak), rivers (who
stinctively and rightly assigns it to the work- fight heroes), cataloguing men and territories
ings of the supernatural. By his reference to in detail, cutting from a dead peasant soldier
the gods the bard also manages to attach the to the god Apollo, dissolving through simile
greatest possible importance to his own pro- to remind us of the simultaneous existence of
fession.' 2 domestic daily life, home, work, family and
Epic is Homer's Iliad. Under the title Why peace.
Tears, Achilles? a performance of Christopher Examine one of these similes :
Logue's version of two books of the Iliad was Try to recall the pause, thock, pause,
presented in March at The Royal College of Sounds that are made when axeblades follow
Art by The London Academy of Music and Each other through a valuable wood.
Dramatic Art (gods, heroes and armies), The Though the work is going on on the far
Royal College of Music (orchestras, choirs Side of the valley, and the axeblows are
and music), The Naked City, Soho (slave Muted by a mile of clear, still standing air,
girls), The Royal College of Art (staging), They throb, throb gently in your ears.
under the direction of Peter Elford. It was an And occasionally you can hear a phrase
event which was so suggestive—and I don't Spoken between the men who are working
just mean on the Soho slavegirl level, though More than a mile away, with perfect clarity.