1. Introduction: Anthony C. Yu / Homer and the scholars once more
2. Definitions: C. S. Lewis / Primary epic: Technique and subject
E. M. W. Tillyard / The nature of the epic
Northrop Frye / The encyclopaedic form of the epic
Albert B. Lord / Homer and oral poetry
3. The narrator and narrative technique: Rodney Delasanta / The classical exemplum
Kenneth Quinn / The tempo of virgilian epic
Erich Auerbach / Dante's addresses to the reader
Anne D. Ferry / Point of view and comment
4. The epic hero: James Redfield / The making of the Odyssey
Peter F. Fisher / The trials of the epic hero in Beowulf
John M. Steadman / The "Suffering servant"
Brian Wilkie / The way of the hero
5. Language: G. S. Kirk / Homeric subjects and styles
William Whallon / Biblical poetry and homeric epic
Paul J. Alpers / Spencer's poetic language
6. Magnitude and the epic vision: SImone Weil / The "Iliad," poem of might
C. M. Bowra / Virgil and the ideal of Rome
William Calin / The quest for the absolute: Ami et amile
7. Continuity and transformation: George M. Ridenour / My Poem's Epic
George Steiner / Homer and Tolstoy
Roy Harvey Pearce / Toward an American epic.
