View source for Epic poetry

{{Short description|Lengthy poem dealing with supernatural forces}}
{{other uses of|epic|Epic (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
[[File:British Museum Flood Tablet.jpg|thumb|A tablet containing a fragment of the ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'']]
[[Image:Kyrgyz Manaschi, Karakol.jpg|thumb|upright|A traditional Kyrgyz ''manaschi'' performing part of the epic poem at a yurt camp in [[Karakol]]]]
{{Literature}}
In [[poetry]], an '''epic'''<!-- Please do not add "epic poem", which is a made-up term. "Epic" is a dictionary word defined as "a long narrative poem in elevated style recounting the deeds of a legendary or historical hero"; "epic poem" does not appear in any major dictionaries. --> is a lengthy [[narrative poem]] typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with [[gods]] or other [[superhuman strength|superhuman forces]], gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants.<ref>{{cite book |author=Michael Meyer |title=The Bedford Introduction to Literature |place=Bedford |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=2005 |pages=21–28 |isbn=0-312-41242-8}}</ref> With regard to [[oral tradition]], epic poems consist of formal speech and are usually learnt word for word, contrasted with [[narrative]]s that consist of [[colloquialism|everyday speech]], categorised into 'factual' or fiction, the former of which is less susceptible to variation.<ref>{{cite book |last=Vansina |first=Jan |title=Oral tradition as history |page=13 |year=1985 |url=https://archive.org/details/oraltraditionash0000vans}}</ref>

Influential epics that have shaped [[Western literature]] and [[Western culture|culture]] include [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'' and ''[[Odyssey]]''; [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]''; and the anonymous ''[[Beowulf]],'' [[Epic of Manas]] and ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]''. The genre has inspired the adjective ''[[wikt:epic|epic]]'' as well as [[Epic (genre)|derivative works in other mediums]] (such as [[epic films]]) that evoke or emulate the characteristics of epics.<ref>{{Cite dictionary |title=Epic |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epic |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250425101635/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epic |archive-date=April 25, 2025 |access-date=May 28, 2025 |dictionary=[[Merriam-Webster]]}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
The English word ''epic'' comes from [[Latin]] {{lang|la|epicus}}, which itself comes from the [[Ancient Greek]] adjective {{lang|grc-latn|epikos}} ({{lang|grc|ἐπικός}}), from {{lang|grc-latn|epos}} ({{lang|grc|ἔπος}}),<ref>{{Cite OED | epic | id=63237 }}</ref>
'word, story, poem'.<ref>{{cite dictionary
 |title=Epic
 |dictionary=Online Etymology Dictionary
 |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=epic
}}</ref>

In Ancient Greek, 'epic' could refer to all poetry in [[dactylic hexameter]] ({{tlit|grc|epea}}), which included not only [[Homer]] but also the wisdom poetry of [[Hesiod]], the utterances of the [[Delphic oracle]], and the strange theological verses attributed to [[Orpheus]]. Later tradition, however, has restricted the term 'epic' to ''heroic epic'', as described in this article.

== Overview ==
[[File:Kalevala1.jpg|thumb|upright|The first edition (1835) of the Finnish national epic poem ''[[Kalevala]]'' by [[Elias Lönnrot]]]]
Originating before the invention of writing, primary epics, such as those of [[Homer]], were composed by bards who used complex rhetorical and metrical schemes by which they could memorize the epic as received in tradition and add to the epic in their performances. Later writers like [[Virgil]], [[Apollonius of Rhodes]], [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]], [[Luís de Camões|Camões]], and [[John Milton|Milton]] adopted and adapted Homer's [[Parallels between Virgil's Aeneid and Homer's Iliad and Odyssey|style and subject matter]], but used devices available only to those who write.

The oldest epic recognized is the ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'' ({{circa|2500–1300 BCE}}), which was recorded in ancient [[Sumer]] during the [[Neo-Sumerian Empire]]. The poem details the exploits of [[Gilgamesh]], the king of [[Uruk]]. Although recognized as a historical figure, Gilgamesh, as represented in the epic, is a largely legendary or mythical figure.<ref>{{cite book
 |editor1-last=Lawall |editor1-first=Sarah N.
 |editor2-last=Mack |editor2-first=Maynard
 |date=1999
 |title=Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces: The Western Tradition
 |edition=7 |volume=1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/nortonanthologyo0001unse_z9t3/page/10 10–11]
 |location=New York, NY
 |publisher=W.W. Norton
 |isbn=978-0-393-97289-4
 |url=https://archive.org/details/nortonanthologyo0001unse_z9t3
}}</ref>

The longest written epic from antiquity is the ancient Indian ''[[Mahabharata]]'' ({{Circa|3rd century BC}}–3rd century AD),<ref>Austin, [https://books.google.com/books?id=4jCoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA21 p. 21] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225145847/https://books.google.com/books?id=4jCoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA21 |date=25 December 2022 }}.</ref> which consists of 100,000 [[śloka]]s or over 200,000 verse lines (each shloka is a couplet), as well as long prose passages, so that at ~1.8 million words it is roughly twice the length of ''[[Shahnameh]]'', four times the length of the ''[[Rāmāyaṇa]]'', and roughly ten times the length of the ''[[Iliad]]'' and the ''[[Odyssey]]'' combined.<ref>{{cite book
 |author=Lochtefeld, James G.
 |year=2002
 |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism
 |volume=A-M |page=[https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc0000loch/page/n405 399]
 |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group
 |isbn=978-0-8239-3179-8
 |url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc0000loch
 |url-access=registration
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
 |author1=Sharma, T.R.S.
 |author2=Gaur, June
 |author3=Akademi, Sahitya
 |year=2000
 |title=Ancient Indian Literature: An anthology
 |location=New Delhi, IN
 |publisher=Sahitya Akademi
 |isbn=978-81-260-0794-3
 |page=137
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IRp1PKX0BXoC&pg=PA137
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
 |author1=Spodek, Howard
 |author2=Richard Mason
 |title=The World's History
 |publisher=Pearson Education
 |year=2006
 |place=New Jersey
 |page=224
 |isbn=0-13-177318-6
}}</ref>

Famous examples of epic poetry include the Sumerian ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'', the ancient Indian ''[[Mahabharata]]'' and ''[[Rāmāyaṇa]]'' in Sanskrit and ''[[Silappatikaram]]'' and ''[[Manimekalai]]'' in Tamil, the Persian ''[[Shahnameh]]'', the Ancient Greek ''[[Odyssey]]'' and ''[[Iliad]]'', [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'', the Old English ''[[Beowulf]]'', [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]]'s ''[[Divine Comedy]]'', the Finnish ''[[Kalevala]]'', the German {{Lang|de|[[Nibelungenlied]]}}, the French ''[[Song of Roland]]'', the Spanish ''[[Cantar de mio Cid]]'', the Portuguese ''[[Os Lusíadas]]'', the Armenian ''[[Daredevils of Sassoun]]'', the Old Russian ''[[The Tale of Igor's Campaign]]'', [[John Milton]]'s ''[[Paradise Lost]]'', ''[[The Secret History of the Mongols]]'', the Kyrgyz [[Epic of Manas|''Manas'']], and the Malian [[Epic of Sundiata|''Sundiata'']]. Epic poems of the modern era include [[Derek Walcott]]'s ''[[Omeros]]'', [[Mircea Cărtărescu]]'s [[The Levant (poem)|''The Levant'']] and [[Adam Mickiewicz]]'s ''[[Pan Tadeusz]]''. ''[[Paterson (poem)|Paterson]]'' by [[William Carlos Williams]], published in five volumes from 1946 to 1958, was inspired in part by another modern epic, ''[[The Cantos]]'' by [[Ezra Pound]].<ref>{{cite news
 |first=Herbert |last=Leibowitz
 |date=29 December 2011
 |title=Herbert Leibowitz on William Carlos Williams and Ezra Pound: Episodes from a sixty-year friendship
 |department=News
 |type=blog
 |url=https://www.loa.org/news-and-views/814-herbert-leibowitz-on-william-carlos-williams-and-ezra-pound-episodes-from-a-sixty-year-friendship
 |access-date=2020-10-12
 |website=Library of America (loa.org)
 |language=en-US
}}</ref>

== Oral epics ==
The first epics were products of [[literacy|preliterate]] societies and [[oral tradition|oral history]] poetic traditions.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}} [[Oral tradition]] was used alongside written scriptures to communicate and facilitate the spread of culture.<ref>{{cite book
 |author=Goody, Jack
 |year=1987
 |title=The Interface Between the Written and the Oral
 |url-access=registration
 |publisher=Cambridge University Press
 |isbn=978-0-521-33794-6
 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/interfacebetween00good/page/110 110–121]
 |url=https://archive.org/details/interfacebetween00good
}}</ref>
In these traditions, poetry is transmitted to the audience and from performer to performer by purely oral means. Early 20th-century study of living oral epic traditions in the [[Balkans]] by [[Milman Parry]] and [[Albert Lord]] demonstrated the [[Parataxis|paratactic]] model used for composing these poems. What they demonstrated was that oral epics tend to be constructed in short episodes, each of equal status, interest and importance. This facilitates memorization, as the poet is recalling each episode in turn and using the completed episodes to recreate the entire epic as he performs it. Parry and Lord also contend that the most likely source for written texts of the epics of [[Homer]] was dictation from an oral performance.

[[Milman Parry]] and [[Albert Lord]] have argued that the Homeric epics, the earliest works of Western literature, were fundamentally an oral poetic form. These works form the basis of the epic genre in Western literature. Nearly all of Western epic (including Virgil's ''[[Aeneid]]'' and Dante's ''[[Divine Comedy]]'') self-consciously presents itself as a continuation of the tradition begun by these poems.

== Composition and conventions ==
In his work ''[[Poetics (Aristotle)|Poetics]]'', Aristotle defines an epic as one of the forms of poetry, contrasted with [[lyric poetry]] and drama (in the form of tragedy and comedy).<ref>''Aristotle: Poetics'', translated with an introduction and notes by Malcolm Heath, (Penguin) London 1996.</ref>
{{blockquote|text=Epic poetry agrees with Tragedy in so far as it is an imitation in verse of characters of a higher type. They differ in that Epic poetry admits but one kind of meter and is narrative in form. They differ, again, in their length: for Tragedy endeavors, as far as possible, to confine itself to a single revolution of the sun, or but slightly to exceed this limit, whereas the Epic action has no limits of time. This, then, is a second point of difference; though at first the same freedom was admitted in Tragedy as in Epic poetry.{{pb}}Of their constituent parts some are common to both, some peculiar to Tragedy: whoever, therefore knows what is good or bad Tragedy, knows also about Epic poetry. All the elements of an Epic poem are found in Tragedy, but the elements of a Tragedy are not all found in the Epic poem.|author=Aristotle, ''Poetics'' Part V}}

Harmon & Holman (1999) define an epic:
{{blockquote|text=<nowiki/>
;Epic: A long narrative poem in elevated style presenting characters of high position in adventures forming an organic whole through their relation to a central heroic figure and through their development of episodes important to the history of a nation or race.|author=Harmon & Holman (1999)<ref name=Harmon-Holman-1999 />}}

Harmon and Holman delineate ten main characteristics of an epic:<ref name=Harmon-Holman-1999>{{cite book
 |first1=William |last1=Harmon
 |first2=C. Hugh |last2=Holman
 |year=1999
 |title=A Handbook to Literature
 |edition=8th
 |publisher=Prentice Hall
}}</ref>
# Begins ''[[in medias res]]'' ("in the thick of things").
# The setting is vast, covering many nations, the world or the universe.
# Begins with an invocation to a [[muse]] (epic invocation).
# Begins with a statement of the theme.
# Includes the use of [[epithets]].
# Contains long lists, called an [[epic catalogue]].
# Features long and formal speeches.
# Shows divine intervention in human affairs.
# Features heroes that embody the values of the civilization.
# Often features the tragic hero's descent into the [[underworld]] or [[hell]].

The hero generally participates in a cyclical journey or quest, faces adversaries that try to defeat them in their journey, and returns home significantly transformed by their journey. The epic hero illustrates traits, performs deeds, and exemplifies certain morals that are valued by the society the epic originates from. Many epic heroes are [[recurring character]]s in the legends of their native cultures.

=== Conventions of the Indian Epic ===

In the Indian [[mahākāvya]] epic genre, more emphasis was laid on description than on narration. Indeed, the traditional characteristics of a ''mahākāvya'' are listed as:{{efn|
itihāsa-kath-ôdbhūtam, itarad vā sad-āśrayam, {{!}} {{IAST|catur-varga-phal'-āyattaṃ, catur-udātta-nāyakam}}, <br />
{{IAST|nagar'-ârṇava-śaila'-rtu|candr'-â rk'-ôdaya-varṇanaiḥ}}, {{!}} {{IAST|udyāna-salila-kṛīḍā-madhu-pāna-rat'-ôtsavaiḥ}}, <br />
{{IAST|vipralambhair vivāhaiś ca, kumār'-ôdaya-varṇanaiḥ}}, {{!}} {{IAST|mantra-dūta-prayāṇ'-āji-nāyak'-âbhyudayair api}}; <br />
{{IAST|alaṃ-kṛtam, a-saṃkṣiptaṃ, rasa-bhāva-nirantaram}}, {{!}} {{IAST|sargair an-ativistīrṇaiḥ, śravya-vṛttaiḥ su-saṃdhibhiḥ}}, <br />
{{IAST|sarvatra bhinna-vṛttāntair upetaṃ, loka-rañjanam}} {{!}} {{IAST|kāvyaṃ kalp'-ântara-sthāyi jāyate sad-alaṃkṛti}}<ref>{{cite book
 |author = [[Daṇḍin]]
 |title = [[Kāvyādarśa]]
 |trans-title = The Mirror of Poetry
 |at = 1.15–19
}}</ref>
}}{{efn|
It springs from a historical incident or is otherwise based on some fact; <br />
it turns upon the fruition of [[Puruṣārtha|the fourfold ends]] and its hero is clever and noble; <br />
By descriptions of cities, oceans, mountains, seasons and risings of the moon or the sun; <br />
through sportings in garden or water, and festivities of drinking and love; <br />
Through sentiments-of-love-in-separation and through marriages, <br />
by descriptions of the birth-and-rise of princes, <br />
and likewise through state-counsel, embassy, advance, battle, and the hero's triumph; <br />
Embellished; not too condensed, and pervaded all through with poetic sentiments and emotions; <br />
with cantos none too lengthy and having agreeable metres and well-formed joints, <br />
And in each case furnished with an ending in a different metre – <br />
such a poem possessing good figures-of-speech wins the people's heart and endures longer than even a kalpa.<ref>{{cite book
 |author=[[Daṇḍin]]
 |year=1924 |orig-date={{circa|7th–8th century CE}}
 |title=Kāvyādarśa of {{IAST|Daṇḍin}}: Sanskrit text and English translation
 |title-link=Kāvyādarśa
 |at=1.15–19
 |translator-first=S.K. |translator-last=Belvalkar
 |publisher=Poona
}}</ref>
}}
* It must take its subject matter from the epics (''Ramayana'' or ''Mahabharata''), or from history,
* It must help further the four goals of man ([[purusharthas]]),
* It must contain descriptions of cities, seas, mountains, moonrise and sunrise, and accounts of merrymaking in gardens, of bathing parties, drinking bouts, and love-making.
* It should tell the sorrow of separated lovers and should describe a wedding and the birth of a son.
* It should describe a king's council, an embassy, the marching forth of an army, a battle, and the victory of a hero.<ref>{{cite book
 |last=Ingalls |first=D.H.H. Sr. |author-link= Daniel H.H. Ingalls, Sr.
 |year=1945
 |chapter=Sanskrit poetry and Sanskrit poetics
 |at=''Introduction'' pp&nbsp;33–35
 |title=An Anthology of Sanskrit Court Poetry: Vidyākara's Subhāṣitaratnakoṣa
 |publisher=Harvard University Press
 |isbn=978-0-674-78865-7
 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AjEdCVZ5uoQC&pg=PA34
}}</ref>

=== Themes ===
Classical epic poetry recounts a journey, either physical (as typified by Odysseus in the ''[[Odyssey]]'') or mental (as typified by Achilles in the ''[[Iliad]]'') or both.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Kisak |first=Paul F. |title=Epic Literature: " The Grand & Heroic Genre of Literature " |date=19 May 2016 |publisher=CreateSpace Publishing |isbn=978-1533354457 |edition=1st}}</ref> Epics also tend to highlight cultural norms and to define or call into question cultural values, particularly as they pertain to [[heroism]].<ref name=":0" />

=== Conventions ===
==== Proem ====
In the [[proem]] or preface, the poet may begin by invoking a [[Muse]] or similar divinity. The poet prays to the Muses to provide them with divine inspiration to tell the story of a great hero.<ref>{{cite journal
 |last=Battles |first=Paul
 |year=2014
 |title=Toward a theory of Old English poetic genres: Epic, elegy, wisdom poetry, and the "traditional opening"
 |journal= Studies in Philology
 |volume=111 |issue=1 |pages=1–34
 |doi=10.1353/sip.2014.0001
 |s2cid=161613381
}}</ref>

Example opening lines with invocations:
{{unbulleted list|
{{blockquote|text=Sing goddess the baneful wrath of Achilles son of Peleus|author=''[[Iliad]]'' 1.1}}|
{{blockquote|text=Muse, tell me in verse of the man of many wiles|author= ''[[Odyssey]]'' 1.1}}|
{{blockquote|text=From the Heliconian Muses let us begin to sing|author= [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' 1.1}}|
{{blockquote|text=Beginning with thee, Oh [[Phoebus]], I will recount the famous deeds of men of old|author=''[[Argonautica]]'' 1.1}}|
{{blockquote|text=Muse, remember to me the causes|author=''[[Aeneid]]'' 1.8}}|
{{blockquote|text=<poem>
Sing Heav'nly Muse, that on the secret top
of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire</poem>|author=''[[Paradise Lost]]'' 1.6–7}}
}}
An alternative or complementary form of proem, found in Virgil and his imitators, opens with the [[performative verb]] "I sing". Examples:
{{unbulleted list|
{{blockquote|text=I sing arms and the man|author=''[[Aeneid]]'' 1.1}}|
{{blockquote|text=I sing pious arms and their captain|author=''[[Gerusalemme liberata]]'' 1.1}}|
{{blockquote|text=I sing ladies, knights, arms, loves, courtesies, audacious deeds|author=''[[Orlando Furioso]]'' 1.1–2}}
}}
This Virgilian epic convention is referenced in [[Walt Whitman]]'s poem title / opening line "I sing the body electric".<ref>{{cite book
 |author=Whitman, W. |author-link=
 |title=[[Leaves of Grass]]
}}{{full citation needed|date=August 2021|reason=year / edition (note there were several), page number and line number in that edition (some of Whitman's poems have almost no breaks between them, modern editions have breaks inserted in these, hence year (edition), page, and line are needed).}}</ref>

Compare the first six lines of the ''[[Kalevala]]'':
<blockquote><poem>
Mastered by desire impulsive,
By a mighty inward urging,
I am ready now for singing,
Ready to begin the chanting
Of our nation's ancient folk-song
Handed down from by-gone ages.</poem></blockquote>

These conventions are largely restricted to European classical culture and its imitators. The ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'', for example, or the ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]'' do not contain such elements, nor do early medieval Western epics that are not strongly shaped by the classical traditions, such as the ''[[Chanson de Roland]]'' or the ''[[Poem of the Cid]]''.

==== In medias res ====
Narrative opens "[[In medias res|in the middle of things]]", with the hero at his lowest point. Usually flashbacks show earlier portions of the story. For example, the ''[[Iliad]]'' does not tell the entire story of the Trojan War, starting with the [[judgment of Paris]], but instead opens abruptly on the rage of Achilles and its immediate causes. So, too, ''[[Orlando Furioso]]'' is not a complete biography of Roland, but picks up from the plot of ''[[Orlando Innamorato]]'', which in turn presupposes a knowledge of the [[Chivalric romance|romance]] and [[oral tradition]]s.

==== Enumeratio ====
[[Epic catalogue]]s and genealogies are given, called ''[[enumeratio]]''. These long lists of objects, places, and people place the finite action of the epic within a broader, universal context, such as the [[catalog of ships]]. Often, the poet is also paying homage to the ancestors of audience members. Examples:
* In ''[[The Faerie Queene]]'', the list of trees I.i.8–9.
* In ''[[Paradise Lost]]'', the list of demons in Book&nbsp;I.<ref>{{cite journal
 |last=Quint |first=David
 |date=Spring 2007
 |title=Milton's ''Book of Numbers'': Book&nbsp;1 of ''Paradise Lost'' and its catalogue
 |journal=International Journal of the Classical Tradition
 |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=528–549
 |doi=10.1007/bf02923024 |jstor=30222176
|s2cid=161875103
 }}</ref>
* In the ''[[Aeneid]]'', the list of enemies the Trojans find in [[Etruria]] (Central Italy) in Book&nbsp;VII. Also, the list of ships in Book&nbsp;X.<ref>{{cite book
 |editor=Perkell, Christine
 |year=1999
 |title=Reading Vergil's Aeneid: An interpretative guide
 |series=Oklahoma Series in Classical Culture
 |volume=23 |pages=190–194
 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press
 |isbn=978-0-8061-3139-9
 |url=http://www.oupress.com/ECommerce/Book/Detail/909/reading%20vergil%20s%20aeneid
}}</ref>
* In the ''[[Iliad]]'',<ref>{{cite journal
 |last=Gaertner |first=Jan Felix
 |year=2001
 |title=The Homeric catalogues and their function in epic narrative
 |journal=[[Hermes (publication)|Hermes]]
 |volume=129 |issue=3 |pages=298–305
 |jstor=4477439
}}</ref> the [[Catalogue of Ships]], the most famous epic catalogue, and the [[Trojan Battle Order]]

==== Stylistic features ====
In the Homeric and post-Homeric tradition, epic style is typically achieved through the use of the following stylistic features:
* Heavy use of repetition or stock phrases: e.g., [[Epithets in Homer|Homer]]'s "rosy-fingered dawn" and "wine-dark sea".
* [[Homeric simile|Epic similes]]

=== Form ===
Many verse forms have been used in epic poems through the ages, but each language's literature typically gravitates to one form, or at least to a very limited set.

Ancient Sumerian epic poems did not use any kind of [[Meter (poetry)|poetic meter]] and [[Line (poetry)|lines]] did not have consistent lengths;<ref name=Kramer-1963>{{cite book
 |last=Kramer |first=Samuel Noah |author-link=Samuel Noah Kramer
 |year=1963
 |title=The Sumerians: Their history, culture, and character
 |location=Chicago, Illinois
 |publisher=University of Chicago Press
 |isbn=978-0-226-45238-8
 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/sumerianstheirhi00samu/page/184 184–185]
 |url=https://archive.org/details/sumerianstheirhi00samu
}}</ref>
instead, Sumerian poems derived their rhythm solely through constant [[Repetition (rhetorical device)|repetition]] and [[parallelism (rhetoric)|parallelism]], with subtle variations between lines.<ref name=Kramer-1963 />
[[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] epic poetry, by contrast, usually places strong emphasis on the importance of line consistency and poetic meter.<ref name=Kramer-1963 /> Ancient Greek epics were composed in dactylic [[hexameter]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
 |title=Hexameter
 |department=poetry
 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica
 |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/hexameter
}}</ref>
Very early Latin epicists, such [[Livius Andronicus]] and [[Gnaeus Naevius]], used [[Saturnian (poetry)|Saturnian]] meter. By the time of [[Ennius]], however, Latin poets had adopted [[dactylic hexameter]].

Dactylic hexameter has been adapted by a few anglophone poets such as [[Longfellow]] in "[[Evangeline]]", whose first line is as follows:

<blockquote>This is the | forest pri | meval. The | murmuring | pines and the | hemlocks</blockquote>

Old English, German and Norse poems were written in [[alliterative verse]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
 |title=Alliterative verse
 |department=literature
 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica
 |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/alliterative-verse
}}</ref>
usually without [[rhyme]]. The alliterative form can be seen in the Old English "[[Finnsburg Fragment]]" (alliterated sounds are in bold):

{{Verse translation|
Ac on'''w'''acnigeað nū,     '''w'''īgend mīne<ref>"The Finnsburg Fragment", line 10</ref>
'''e'''alra '''ǣ'''rest     '''e'''orðbūendra,<ref>"The Finnsburg Fragment", line 32</ref>
|But awake now, my warriors,
of all first the men
}}
While the above classical and Germanic forms would be considered [[stichic]], Italian, Spanish and Portuguese long poems favored [[stanza]]ic forms, usually written in [[terza rima]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
 |title=Terza rima
 |department=poetic form
 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica
 |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/terza-rima
}}</ref>
or especially [[ottava rima]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
 |title=Ottava rima
 |department=poetic form
 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica
 |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/ottava-rima
}}</ref>
''Terza rima'' is a [[rhyme|rhyming]] [[Verse (poetry)|verse]] [[stanza]] form that consists of an [[hocket|interlocking]] three-line [[rhyme]] scheme. An example is found in the first lines of the [[Divine Comedy]] by [[Dante]], who originated the form:

{{poem quote|''Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita'' (A)
''mi ritrovai per una selva oscura'' (B)
''ché la diritta via era smarrita.'' (A)

''Ahi quanto a dir qual era è cosa dura'' (B)
''esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte'' (C)
''che nel pensier rinnova la paura!'' (B)
}}

In [[ottava rima]], each stanza consists of three alternate rhymes and one double rhyme, following the ABABABCC [[rhyme scheme]]. Example:
{{Verse translation|
{{lang|it|Canto l'arme pietose, e 'l Capitano
Che 'l gran sepolcro liberò di Cristo.
Molto egli oprò col senno e con la mano;
Molto soffrì nel glorioso acquisto:
E invan l'Inferno a lui s'oppose; e invano
s'armò d'Asia e di Libia il popol misto:
Chè 'l Ciel gli diè favore, e sotto ai santi
Segni ridusse i suoi compagni erranti.}}
|attr1={{cite book
        |author=[[Torquato Tasso|Tasso]]
        |title=[[Gerusalemme Liberata]]
        |at=lines&nbsp;1–8
       }}
|
The sacred armies, and the godly knight,
That the great sepulchre of Christ did free,
I sing; much wrought his valor and foresight,
And in that glorious war much suffered he;
In vain 'gainst him did Hell oppose her might,
In vain the Turks and Morians armèd be:
His soldiers wild, to brawls and mutines prest,
Reducèd he to peace, so Heaven him blest.
|attr2=Translation by [[Edward Fairfax]]}}

From the 14th century English epic poems were written in [[heroic couplet]]s,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
 |title=Heroic couplet
 |department=poetry
 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica
 |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/heroic-couplet
}}</ref>
and [[rhyme royal]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
 |title=Rhyme royal
 |department=poetic form
 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica
 |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/rhyme-royal
}}</ref>
though in the 16th century the [[Spenserian stanza]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
 |title=Spenserian stanza
 |department=poetic form
 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica
 |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/Spenserian-stanza
}}</ref>
and [[blank verse]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
 |title=Blank verse
 |department=poetic form
 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica
 |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/blank-verse
}}</ref>
were also introduced. The [[French alexandrine]] is currently the heroic line in French literature, though in earlier literature – such as the [[chanson de geste]] – the [[decasyllable]] grouped in [[laisse]]s took precedence. In Polish literature, couplets of [[Polish alexandrine]]s (syllabic lines of 7+6 syllables) prevail.<ref>{{cite book
 |contribution=Trzynastozgłoskowiec
 |first=Wiktor Jarosław |last=Darasz
 |title=Mały przewodnik po wierszu polskim
 |place=Kraków
 |year=2003
 |language=Polish
}}</ref>
In Russian, [[iambic tetrameter]] verse is the most popular.<ref>{{cite book
 |first=Alexandra |last=Smith
 |title=Montaging Pushkin: Pushkin and visions of modernity in Russian twentieth century poetry
 |page=184
}}{{full citation needed|date=August 2021|reason=pub. date, publisher, place, ISBN}}</ref>
In Serbian poetry, the decasyllable is the only form employed.<ref>{{cite book
 |first=David |last=Meyer
 |date=27 November 2013
 |title=Early Tahitian Poetics
 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter
 |isbn=978-1-61451-375-9
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6qTpBQAAQBAJ&q=serbian+decasyllableDavid&pg=PA8
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |first=R.W. |last=Seton-Watson
 |orig-date=1915 |date=2012-10-06
 |title=The Spirit of the Serb
 |website=Britić (britic.co.uk)
 |url=http://www.britic.co.uk/2012/10/06/the-spirit-of-the-serb-r-w-seton-watson-1915/
}}</ref>

[[Baltic Finns|Balto-Finnic]] (e.g. Estonian, Finnish, Karelian) folk poetry uses a form of [[trochaic tetrameter]] that has been called the Kalevala meter. The Finnish and Estonian national epics, ''[[Kalevala]]'' and ''[[Kalevipoeg]]'', are both written in this meter. The meter is thought to have originated during the [[Finnic languages|Proto-Finnic]] period.<ref>{{cite book
 | editor1-first=Matti   |editor1-last=Kuusi  |editor1-link=Matti Kuusi
 | editor2-first=Keith   |editor2-last=Bosley |editor2-link=Keith Bosley
 | editor3-first=Michael |editor3-last=Branch
 | year = 1977
 | title = Finnish Folk Poetry: Epic: An Anthology in Finnish and English
 | publisher = Finnish Literature Society
 | isbn = 951-717-087-4
 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/finnishfolkpoetr00kuus/page/62 62–64]
 | url-access = registration
 | url = https://archive.org/details/finnishfolkpoetr00kuus/page/62
}}</ref>

In Indic epics such as the [[Ramayana]] and [[Mahabharata]], the [[shloka]] form is used.

== Genres and related forms ==
The primary form of epic, especially as discussed in this article, is the '''heroic epic''', including such works as the ''[[Iliad]]'' and ''[[Mahabharata]]''. Ancient sources also recognized '''[[didactic poetry|didactic epic]]''' as a category, represented by such works as [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Works and Days]]'' and Lucretius's ''[[De rerum natura]]''.

A related type of poetry is the '''[[epyllion]]''' (plural: epyllia), a brief narrative poem with a [[Romance (love)|romantic]] or [[Mythology|mythological]] [[Theme (literature)|theme]]. The term, which means "little [[:wikt:epic|epic]]", came into use in the nineteenth century. It refers primarily to the erudite, shorter hexameter poems of the [[Hellenistic poetry|Hellenistic period]] and the similar works composed at Rome from the age of the [[neoteric]]s; to a lesser degree, the term includes some poems of the [[English Renaissance]], particularly those influenced by [[Ovid]].<ref>{{cite web
 |title=Epyllion
 |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/epyllion
 |website=www.britannica.com
 |access-date=21 February 2019
}}</ref>
The most famous example of [[Classical antiquity|classical]] epyllion is perhaps [[Catullus 64]].

Epyllion is to be understood as distinct from '''[[mock epic]]''', another light form.

'''Romantic epic''' is a term used to designate works such as ''[[Morgante]]'', ''[[Orlando Innamorato]]'', ''[[Orlando Furioso]]'' and ''[[Gerusalemme Liberata]]'', which freely lift characters, themes, plots and narrative devices from the world of prose [[chivalric romance]].

===Non-European forms===
Long poetic narratives that do not fit the traditional European definition of the heroic epic are sometimes known as folk epics. Indian folk epics have been investigated by Lauri Honko (1998),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Siri Epic as performed by Gopala Naika |url=https://tiedekirja.fi/en/siri-epic-as-performed-by-gopala-naika |access-date=2022-11-01 |website=tiedekirja.fi |language=en}}</ref> Brenda Beck (1982)<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Three Twins: The Telling of a South Indian Folk Epic, by Brenda E. F. Beck {{!}} The Online Books Page |url=https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book//lookupid?key=olbp74886 |access-date=2022-11-01 |website=onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu}}</ref> and John Smith, amongst others. Folk epics are an important part of community identities.

====Egypt====
The folk genre known as al-sira relates the saga of the Hilālī tribe and their migrations across the Middle East and north Africa, see Bridget Connelly (1986).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Connelly |first=Bridget |url=http://archive.org/details/arabfolkepiciden0000conn |title=Arab folk epic and identity |date=1986 |publisher=Berkeley : University of California Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-520-05536-0}}</ref>

==== India====
{{main|Indian epic poetry}}
In India, folk epics reflect the caste system of Indian society and the life of the lower levels of society, such as cobblers and shepherds, see C.N. Ramachandran, "Ambivalence and Angst: A Note on Indian folk epics," in Lauri Honko (2002. p.&nbsp;295).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Honko |first=Lauri |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oqQSAQAAIAAJ |title=The Kalevala and the World's Traditional Epics |date=2002 |publisher=Finnish Literature Society |isbn=978-951-746-422-2 |language=en}}</ref> Some Indian oral epics feature strong women who actively pursue personal freedom in their choice of a romantic partner (Stuart, Claus, Flueckiger and Wadley, eds, 1989, p.&nbsp;5).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oral epics in India {{!}} WorldCat.org |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/18070481 |access-date=2022-11-01 |website=www.worldcat.org |language=en}}</ref>

==== Japan ====
Japanese traditional performed narratives were sung by blind singers. One of the most famous, [[The Tale of the Heike]], deals with historical wars and had a ritual function to placate the souls of the dead (Tokita 2015, p.&nbsp;7).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Japanese Singers of Tales: Ten Centuries of Performed Narrative |url=https://www.routledge.com/Japanese-Singers-of-Tales-Ten-Centuries-of-Performed-Narrative/Tokita/p/book/9780367599553 |access-date=2022-11-01 |website=Routledge & CRC Press |language=en}}</ref>

====Africa====
A variety of epic forms are found in Africa. Some have a linear, unified style while others have a more cyclical, episodic style (Barber 2007, p.&nbsp;50).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barber |first=Karin |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/anthropology-of-texts-persons-and-publics/7B7C174C35CCE4D91CDD779458CD442F |title=The Anthropology of Texts, Persons and Publics |date=2007 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-83787-3 |series=New Departures in Anthropology |location=Cambridge}}</ref> The best known of African epics is [[Epic of Sundiata]] from Mali. Some contemporary scholarship presses against the bifurcation of "epic vs. novel".<ref>Repinecz, Jonathon. ''Subversive traditions: Reinventing the West African Epic''. Michigan State University Press, 2019.</ref>

There is also the epic of "Kelefaa Saane", "part of the repertoire that maintains the memroy of a legendary warrior prince of Kaabu, a kingdom in the [[Senegambia|Senegambian]] area of West Africa, in the nineteenth century".<ref>p. ix, Camara, Sirifo. ''The Epic of Kelefaa Saane.'' Indiana University Press, 2010.</ref>

====China====
People in the rice cultivation zones of south China sang long narrative songs about the origin of rice growing, rebel heroes, and transgressive love affairs (McLaren 2022).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Memory Making in Folk Epics of China: The Intimate and the Local in Chinese Regional Culture By Anne E. McLaren |url=https://www.cambriapress.com/pub.cfm?bid=854 |access-date=2022-11-01 |website=www.cambriapress.com}}</ref> The borderland ethnic populations of China sang heroic epics, such as the [[Epic of King Gesar]] of the [[Mongols]], and the creation-myth epics of the [[Yao people]] of south China.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-columbia-anthology-of-chinese-folk-and-popular-literature/9780231153126 |title=The Columbia Anthology of Chinese Folk and Popular Literature |date=May 2011 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-52673-9 |editor-last=Mair |editor-first=Victor H. |editor-last2=Bender |editor-first2=Mark}}</ref>

==See also==<!-- PLEASE RESPECT ALPHABETICAL ORDER, LISTS AT THE BOTTON -->
{{Portal|Poetry}}

{{div col |colwidth=10 |content=
* [[Alliterative verse]]
* [[Albanian epic poetry]]
* [[Arabic epic literature]]
* [[Alpamysh]]
* [[Bosniak epic poetry]]
* [[Bylina]]
* [[Calliope]] (Greek muse of epic poetry)
* [[Caribbean poetry|Caribbean epic poetry]]
* [[Chanson de geste]]
* [[Duma (epic)|Duma]] (Ukrainian epic)
* [[Elegiac]]
* [[Epic (genre)|Epic fiction]]
** [[List of epic poems]]
** [[List of world folk-epics]]
** [[High fantasy|Epic fantasy]]
** [[Epic film]]
** [[Epic theatre]]
* [[Hebrew and Jewish epic poetry]]
* [[History painting]]
* [[Indian epic poetry]]
* [[Mock epic]]
* [[Monomyth]]
* [[Narrative poetry]]
* [[National epic]]
* [[National poet]]
* [[Oral literature]]
* Reworked fiction
* [[Rimur]]
* [[Serbian epic poetry]]
}}

== Footnotes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist|25em}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book
 | editor-last=Cavallo
 | editor-first=Jo Ann 
 | title=Teaching World Epics 
 | publisher=Modern Language Association of America
 | date=2023-07-27
 | isbn=978-1-60329-618-2
}}
* {{cite book
 |first=Jan |last=de&nbsp;Vries
 |year=1978
 |title=Heroic Song and Heroic Legend
 |publisher=Arno Press
 |isbn=0-405-10566-5
}}
* {{cite periodical
 | last = Hashmi | first = Alamgir
 | year = 2011
 | title = Eponymous écriture and the poetics of reading a transnational epic
 | periodical = Dublin Quarterly
 | volume = 15
}}
* {{cite book
 |last=Frye |first=Northrop |author-link=Northrop Frye
 |year=2015 |orig-date=1957
 |title=Anatomy of Criticism
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jmkZBgAAQBAJ
 |location=Princeton, NJ
 |publisher=Princeton University Press
 |isbn= 978-1-4008-6690-8
}}
* {{cite book
 |first=Cornel |last=Heinsdorff
 |title=Christus, Nikodemus und die Samaritanerin bei Juvencus. Mit einem Anhang zur lateinischen Evangelienvorlage
 |series=Untersuchungen zur antiken Literatur und Geschichte
 |volume=67
 |place=Berlin, DE / New York, NY
 |year=2003
 |isbn=3-11-017851-6
}}
* {{cite book|editor1=Jansen|editor-first=Jan|editor2=Henk|editor-first2=J|editor3=Maier|editor-first3=M.J.|year=2004|title=Epic Adventures: Heroic narrative in the oral performance traditions of four continents|series=Literatur: Forschung und Wissenschaft|volume=3|publisher=LIT Verlag|language=de}}
* {{cite book
 |last=Parrander |first=Patrick
 |year=1980
 |chapter=Science fiction as epic
 |title=Science Fiction: Its criticism and teaching
 |pages=88–105
 |location=London, UK
 |publisher=Methuen
 |isbn=978-0-416-71400-5
 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PZsOAAAAQAAJ
}}
* {{cite book
 |editor1=Reitz, Christiane
 |editor2=Finkmann, Simone
 |year=2019
 |title=Structures of Epic Poetry
 |place=Berlin, DE / Boston, MA
 |publisher=De Gruyter
 |isbn=978-3-11-049200-2
}}
* {{cite book
 |last=Tillyard |first=E.M.W.
 |year=1966 |orig-date=1954
 |title=The English Epic and Its Background
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dvlZAAAAMAAJ
 |location=New York
 |publisher=Oxford UP
}}
* {{cite book
 |last=Wilkie |first=Brian
 |date=1965
 |title=Romantic Poets and Epic Tradition
 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press
 |url=https://archive.org/details/romanticpoetsepi00bria
 |url-access=registration
}}

== External links ==
{{Library resources box
 |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Epic poetry
}}
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Epic Poetry |volume= 9 |last= Gosse |first= Edmund William |author-link= Edmund William Gosse| pages = 681&ndash;682 |short = 1}}
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00548t1 "The Epic"], BBC Radio 4 discussion with John Carey, Karen Edwards and Oliver Taplin (''In Our Time'', 3 February 2003)
* [https://literaturearticles.com/what-is-epic-poem/ "Epic Poem"], Main Features and Conventions of the Epic

{{Fantasy fiction}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Epic poetry| ]]
[[Category:Narrative poems|*]]
[[Category:Fiction forms]]
[[Category:Adventure fiction]]