Epic Features

Although Omeros superficially resembles canonical epics in many ways, Walcott purposely deviates from the genre in order to broaden the scope of this traditionally heroic form. The lengthy though not consistently elevated poetic language is often more lyrical than purely narrative. There is no attempt to appear objective and the protagonists range from the poet himself to simple peasants who are the opposite of demigods engaged in great battles. Walcott depends on frequent allusions to and parallels with Homer, Virgil, Dante, and others, but his goal is to validate simple men and women whose very survival possesses unexpectedly heroic dimensions.

Point of View

Because Walcott makes his own persona one of the protagonists, his perspective is always at hand. Under other circumstances this might undermine the individuality of other characters; however, in this case, Walcott uses a self-reflexive technique, candidly insisting that each narrative "I" is a...