The genus of literature. From lyrics to the epic

The works that make up the cultural baggage of mankind are very diverse in content, form of presentation, composition. Each author chooses his expressive means and puts his unique personality into the work. However, the diversity of works of small and large genres is divided into only three literary genres - lyric, drama and epic. Each kind of literature unites a group of genres similar in structure. Works belonging to different genera differ in the way they describe the characters and the world in which they exist. So, the main feature of epic works can be called objectivity. The lyrical work has a subjective coloring, and in the drama the actions and actions of a person are described.

And now we will describe each gender in more detail, starting with the lyrics, and ending with the epic.

Lyrics, a kind of literature, inherited the name of a musical instrument. The origin of both this genus and the other two began in Ancient Greece. The ancient Greek poets sang their songs to the melodic sounds of the lyre. Accordingly, the genre was also called lyric poetry. As a rule, lyrical works do not contain finished characters or historical paintings. The lyrics describe the feelings that the hero experiences at different moments in his life. This kind of literature is based not on the plot, but on impressions, feelings, experiences and associations. In many lyrical works the plot is absent, and descriptions of any events or landscapes serve the author expressive means.

The drama is completely opposite to the lyrics, as all dramatic works are built exclusively on action. Descriptive-narrative means in drams are practically not applied. The text of the works that are part of the dramatic kind of literature consists mainly of dialogues and monologues, and occasionally encountered author's speech has an auxiliary function and is not included in the plot. As a rule, the author's speech consists of a list of heroes, a brief description of their appearance, character, mood and environment. Plots of most of the dramas are built on the struggle or opposition of heroes, but in some works the leading role is played not by actions, but by the reflections of heroes, expressed in the form of monologues.

Epos, a kind of literature that combines both drama and lyrics. In Greek, its name means "story," which fully describes the essence of the epic. Epic works describe the events of the past, centered around one lily of several heroes. As in the drama, the epic storyline is based on events and actions, but there are elements of lyrics in epic works, such as descriptions of the nature or experiences of the hero. As a rule, an epic work is not limited to temporal or spatial frameworks. The events of some particularly large novels, called epics, span decades and centuries and occur immediately in several countries or on different continents.

The genus of literature is somewhat artificial. In works often combined and lyrics, and epic, and drama. For example, a poem in prose is a combination of lyrics and drama. There are also such "hybrid" species as an epic or lyrical drama. Thanks to such combinations, world literature is being perfected, replenishing with original and original works.