Ritual and Epic

Abstract

Ritual and Epic have a profound impact on us personally, interperson­ally and collectively. Rituals help establish our identity and influence with whom we identify. In another way, Epics transform us; these are events that we live through, either directly or vicariously, that we will always remember.

The function of ritual, as I understand it, is to give form to human life, not in the way of a mere surface arrangement, but in depth.In ancient times, every social occasion was ritually structured and the sense of depth was rendered through the maintenance of a religious tone. Today, on the other hand, the religious tone is reserved for exceptional, very special ‘sacred’, occasions. And yet even in the patterns of our secular life, ritual survives. It can be recognized, for example, not only in the decorum of courts and regulation of military life, but also in the manner of people sitting down to the table together.

Campbell, Joseph¹