Skip to page content |

Tiscali Quicklinks. Please visit our Accessibility Page for a list of the Access Keys you can use to find your way around the site, skip directly to the main navigation, to the page content, or to more links within reference.

Advertisement starts



Advertisement ends

Content Starts Here


epistle

encyclopaedia header
Encyclopaedia Search
Click a letter for the index
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Or search the encyclopaedia:
 
 
 
all results tagged with the © symbol denotes content that is relevant to the national curriculum

Epistle


Letter, particularly an open literary letter or letter in the form of a poem. In the New Testament, the Epistles are 21 letters to individuals or to the members of various churches written by Christian leaders, including the 13 written by St Paul, known as the Pauline Epistles, which include the books Romans, Ephesians, and Corinthians. These epistles are intended to instruct the members of the early church during the first days of Christianity. The epistles of Roman writer Horace were widely imitated in later literature, particularly during the Renaissance period. The English poet Alexander Pope wrote many poetical Epistles, addressing them both to famous figures and to personal friends.

The Roman poet Ovid established a genre of fictional epistles from characters of myth and history to their lovers. An epistolary novel, is a story told as a series of (fictitious) letters.

© Research Machines plc 2008. All rights reserved. Helicon Publishing is a division of Research Machines plc.


 
 

Advertisement starts



Advertisement ends


Advertisement starts



Advertisement ends

Page Footer