The Encyclopedia of World Religions

134 S Elijah

that society, for many epics reveal in story form virtual libraries of information about attitudes, val ues, RITUALS , beliefs, and styles of behavior appro priate to their world. At the same time they tell lis teners about the key historical events and figures that ought to be common knowledge: the major battles, kings, and achievements of the people’s past. The religious world is inevitably part of these stories. Examples of ancient epics with religious overtones are the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, the Aeneid of Virgil, the Mahabharata and Ramayana of ancient India ( see R AMA , R AMAYANA ), the Kojiki in Japan, and the great historical narrative running through much of the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Tes tament and describing events from the Creation in Genesis to the death of King David (1 Kings) and the exile in Babylon. The great epics appeared as finished products at about the time that some people were trying to understand how one can live in a world in which so many bad things happen: wars, slaughters, plagues, suffering, and loss. Epics were one way of looking at this problem. As in all great stories, there are moments of defeat and despair in epics as well as of triumph. At these times only hope and faith sustain the heroes and their people. But in the end they prevail, or at least the very heroism of their suffering is shown to make it worthwhile. The pattern of epics suggests a guiding hand in the lives of great men and the events of history. Broadly speaking, the great age of epics, 1300 B . C . E .–700 C . E ., was the time of the origin of the major religions and their founders, such as M OSES , B UDDHA , J ESUS , and M UHAMMAD . Like these faiths, and often coming to work in tandem with them (as in the incorporation of the Hebrew epic into the B IBLE ), epics assured people that however dark things may seem, G OD or the gods are in control and victory will come at the end. Episcopalianism The Episcopal Church, for merly (before 1967) called the Protestant Episco pal Church, is the expression of A NGLICANISM , the form of C HRISTIANITY of the Church of England, in the United States of America. The words Episcopal

sun, the moon, the earth, the oceans, and patterns of death and rebirth associated with initiations and RITES OF PASSAGE . Although some scholars consider some of Eli ade’s interpretations forced or artificial, his ideas have been rich, exciting, and far-reaching. Elijah (ninth century B . C . E .) a prominent prophet of ancient Israel (the “northern kingdom”) The book of Kings in the B IBLE recounts Elijah’s opposition to Canaanite WORSHIP and his advocacy of the worship of YHWH (“the Lord”) at the time of kings Ahab (ruled c. 869–850 B . C . E .) and Ahaziah (ruled c. 850–849 B . C . E .). One of the best known events is his battle with the prophets of B AAL . He called down fire from HEAVEN to ignite an ALTAR soaked with water (1 Kings 18). According to the Bible, Elijah did not die but was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2). Elijah later became an important figure in Jewish tradition and folklore, most notably as the precursor of the messianic age. At the celebration of the P ASSOVER meal a place is set for Elijah in rec ognition that he might return. epics, religious Long narrative stories, often poetic, dealing with gods and heroes, and regarded as foundational to the identity and world view of the people from which they come. They are not quite myths in the grandest sense, stories of cre ation and salvation that express in narrative form a culture’s most basic religious vision, but they may contain mythic elements and do the same thing for the nation itself. Epics characteristically describe events at the beginning of a nation or civilization, perhaps leading up to its golden age; they were probably based on oral tradition but later put into literary, written form. They recall days when long stories were told to while away evenings before books or television, in the process imparting cul tural perspectives important to anyone living in Enoch See APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE .