The OED hasn't caught up with teenagers who call a day out at the funfair "epic" yet. But actually thinking about it - at a deep narrative level - the metaphor is potent.
So of course it starts with or before Aristotle, classifying a poetic genre as exemplified by the Iliad and the Odyssey. And then the usage just grows. It becomes any poem which deals with successive events in the life of a hero or a period of history. After that, other forms are possible, provided the material is of the right sort. Films, we know, are often epic. It has almost come to mean "big budget" in that context. Finally, in the 19th century, we see a figurative listing for "a series of events worthy of an epic" initially I think intended only at one metaphoric remove... now, in the funfair example, the metaphor is not with the nature of the event, but with the rollercoaster path between them - different function I think.
as an aside, the OED seems a bit confused about Epic theatre (or I'm a little bit confused about Brecht) - characterizing it as Brechtian - but also saying that it equates to realism and lack of theatrical devices. I always thought Stanislavski was the realist, Brecht all about the distance and theatrics... Not sure which Epic best fits - realism - because original epics were "life events" or a more theatrical style which would perhaps equate to the poetic form?
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