Epics Books

An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic

Anonymous

The Epic of Gilgamesh is roughly 4000 years old, making it one of the earliest known works of written literature. It comes from Mesopotamia (aka ancient Iraq), and features the Sumerian legends of the..

Discourses on Satire and on Epic Poetry

John Dryden

"Discourses on Satire and on Epic Poetry" from John Dryden. English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who was made Poet Laureate in 1668 (1631-1700). Dryden’s discourses upon Sati..

The Divine Comedy

Dante Alighieri

The Divine Comedy is an epic poem by Dante Alighieri, written between 1308 and 1321, and it's considered one of the greatest works of world literature. It contains the Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise..

The Metamorphoses of Ovid

Publius Ovidius Naso

The Metamorphoses is a Latin narrative poem by the Roman poet Ovid, considered his magnum opus. Comprising 11,995 lines, 15 books and over 250 myths, the poem chronicles the history of the world from ..

Orlando Furioso

Ludovico Ariosto

Orlando Furioso is an Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was not published in its compl..

The Aeneid of Virgil

Virgil

The Aeneid is an epic poem written by Virgil in the 1st century BC. It's hero is Aeneas, a Trojan who travels from Troy to Italy to eventually found Rome. Some argue that the Aeneid is Virgil's answer..

Maha-bharata

Anonymous

Maha-bharata The Epic of AncieThe Mahābhārata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Rāmāyaṇa. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the ..

Spenser's The Faerie Queene

Edmund Spenser

The Faerie Queene is an English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. Books I to III were first published in 1590, and then republished in 1596 together with books IV to VI. The Faerie Queene is notable for it..