Epic Conventions in Spenser's Faerie Queene

Just as a certain mixture of ingredients is necessary in order to bake a cake, prepare an elaborate dish, or mix a drink, so is true in creating a piece of literature - according to its genre. Whether the work is a fable, a theatrical tragedy or a poem, specific ingredients, or rather conventions are necessary in order to compose a successful piece of literature. One of the most antique, but well known types of literature is the epic, first utilized by such classical greats as Virgil and Homer, displayed in their poems The Aenid, The Iliad and The Odyssey. To get a good taste of what an epic poem entails, one must realize that its recipe requires an enormous number of ingredients. ‘Epic', in popular usage, tends these days to mean vast. Therefore, the vast number of necessary ingredients can be found through the variety of characters, settings and stories that help to incorporate the many characteristics of the epic genre.