SOURCE: "The Epic of Dune: Epic Traditions in Modern Science Fiction," in Aspects of Fantasy: Selected Essays from the Second International Conference on the Fantastic in Literature and Film, edited by William Coyle, Greenwood Press, 1986, pp. 131-39.

Collings is an American educator, poet, and critic who has written extensively on science fiction and fantasy literature. In the following excerpt from an essay that was originally presented at the Second International Conference on the Fantastic in Literature and Film at Florida Atlantic University in 1981, he examines Dune's epic characteristics.

Traditionally, the epic has been considered among the highest forms of literary expression. From pre-classical times until well into the nineteenth century, the epic held its position as second to none (or on occasion second only to tragedy) in rankings of literary forms. In fact, its preeminence was so widely recognized that during the Renaissance, critics defined the epic...