Harry Potter : A Modern Epic Hero and other Features of Epic

Abstract

An epic involves many things, such as a heroic character going on a quest or journey for the good of his people or traveling the world covering vast lands. By definition, an epic is a poem that celebrates a hero's deeds. Of course, Harry Potter is much too long to be a poem. It is a series of novels and movies. However, it celebrates a hero‟s deeds. This hero is a young wizard called Harry Potter. Stories such as The Odyssey, The Iliad, The Lord of The Rings and Beowulf all fall into the epic category. One adventure that is sometimes overlooked for its more modernism feel is the adventures of Harry Potter. Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling, has all the characteristics as any traditional epic literary work and is a very exciting story for all ages. Harry Potter, although sometimes looked down upon by society for the witchcraft involved, is actually an epic that people of all ages can read, understand and enjoy, unlike the historical epics mentioned before. As the first and foremost feature of epic is to celebrate Hero‟s adventures with cosmic importance of it and in that line carry forward the story to involve all other tendencies of epic.