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epyllion

British  
/ ɪˈpɪlɪən /

noun

  1. a miniature epic

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of epyllion

C19: from Greek, diminutive of epos

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The two types of the "plain" style were employed in more modest poems of literature, both, in prose and in such poetry as comedy, the epyllion, in pastoral verse, and the like.

From Vergil A Biography by Frank, Tenney

The late C. S. Lewis, a few pages before his brilliant discussion of Hero and Leander as an epyllion, refers to Lynche's poem as a "stanzaic novella."

From Seven Minor Epics of the English Renaissance (1596-1624) by Miller, Paul William

Other rhetorical devices cultivated in the epyllion are the long apostrophe, and the sentence or wise saying.

From Seven Minor Epics of the English Renaissance (1596-1624) by Miller, Paul William

Either the term "minor epic" or "epyllion" is satisfactory, provided its referent is clear, and accurately described.

From Seven Minor Epics of the English Renaissance (1596-1624) by Miller, Paul William

In the sixty-fourth poem, however, the epyllion which the author of the Ciris clearly had in mind, Catullus used an intricate but by no means balanced form.

From Vergil A Biography by Frank, Tenney

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