Epic Poetry

See also epic.

An epic (from the Ancient Greek adjective ἐπικός (epikos), from ἔπος (epos) "word, story, poem") is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form. Nonetheless, epics have been written down at least since the works of Virgil, Dante Alighieri, and John Milton. Many probably would not have survived if not written down. The first epics are known
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The Odyssey
The Iliad
Beowulf
The Aeneid
Paradise Lost
The Epic of Gilgamesh
The Divine Comedy: Inferno - Purgatorio - Paradiso
Inferno
Metamorphoses
The Song of Roland
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri, Volume 2: Purgatorio

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Virgil
Vera incessu patuit dea. (The goddess indubitable was revealed in her step.)
Virgil, The Aeneid

Virgil
«Heu, miserande puer, si qua fata aspera rumpas, tu Marcellus eris. Manibus date lilia plenis, purpureos spargam flores...» «O giovane degno di pietà, se solo tu potessi rompere il tuo fato crudele, tu sarai Marcello. Versate gigli a piene mani, che io sparga fiori purpurei...»
Virgil, The Aeneid

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