Long, narrative poem in grandiose style. The earliest known form of Greek literature, epics were originally used to transmit history ...

a heroic narrative, adapting or constructing a public *mythology [36] in and for a specific culture, which reflected the rise ...

Cradle of all literature, epic allows a community to place itself in relation to its cultural or mythical origin; rediscovering, ...

The term traditionally applies to long narrative poems on historical or legendary events of defining significance for the national, ethnic, ...

Epic poetry, while broadly covering long heroic poems which recount legendary or historical narratives of national importance, has in fact ...

Poems intended for oral performance in which the deeds of a great hero are narrated in elevated style have existed ...

An epic is a long narrative poem, usually distinguished from the ballad by its greater length and by the use ...

The purely metrical ancient definition of epic, or ἔπος, ἔπη (lit. ‘word’, ‘words’), as verse in successive hexameters includes such works as ...

a long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the past history of a nation. The word comes via Latin from Greek ...

Several types of epic flourished in the late Roman period: (1) patria, or histories of cities such as Tarsos ...