Plain Style Revision of Open Prompt September 16

1986. Some works of literature use the element of time in a distinct way. The chronological sequence of events may be altered, or time may be suspended or accelerated. Choose a novel, an epic, or a play of recognized literary merit and show how the author's manipulation of time contributes to the effectiveness of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

            There are simpler ways of time manipulation than traveling back in time like what happens in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, such as rearranging the order of events to disrupt the chronological order; Vergil chose this technique for The Aenied.  He begins the story in the middle of a storm on the open seas while Aeneas is on his journey from Troy to Italy.  The manipulation of time in The Aeneid is used to create a more epic poem, Vergil begins in the middle of things and then arranges to have Aeneas tell his story later to bring the readers back to the present, in doing so he grabs the reader’s attention in the beginning but still tells the complete story.  Vergil’s use of time manipulation creates a more complete and epic poem that draws the readers in and creates an atmosphere distinctive of an epic.

                Vergil uses the manipulation of time to create a more epic poem; he adjusts the beginning time to be in the middle of the action of the story, where Aeneas is struggling to survive, a characteristic of an epic poem.  He uses imagery to describe the action and suddenness of the scene by saying “the waves reach the sky and the troughs allowed the boats to touch the sand on the bottom,” to describe the storm whipping up the seas that Vergil uses for the beginning of his story. The time manipulation also brings diction with it, since Vergil is trying to create an epic poem, he uses the time manipulation to create the in medias res which is a characteristic of the epic, but he also uses epic language, the level of formality of the diction is higher than the common speech of that time.  When Aeneas arrives in Carthage he recounts his tale and describes the events leading up to his arrival with the language used to tell an epic story, one full of hardships and war, death and near escapes.  This elevated language and diction helps to create an atmosphere, a feel that readers associate with epic poems and stories.

                Using time manipulation is a handy tool for authors, it helps to create an atmosphere that readers are pulled into, and it creates an epic.  Vergil uses time manipulation in The Aeneid and this poem is indeed an epic, not only an imitation of older epics like The Odyssey or The Iliad.