What is the oldest epic poem?

The Epic of Gilgamesh, from ancient Mesopotamia, is usually named as the oldest surviving epic. It is much older than Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.

What does in medias res mean?

It is Latin for "in the middle of things". Epics often begin partway through the story and fill in what came before later.

Poetic Form

Epic

A long narrative poem recounting heroic deeds, often foundational to a culture.

1 min read

Write an Epic Read Epics

LengthBook-lengthOften many thousands of lines

MeterHexameter, then variedMany forms in English

SubjectHeroes and godsA culture's founding story

OpeningIn medias resStarts in the middle of the action

About the Epic

An epic is an extended narrative poem that recounts the heroic deeds of a central figure, often situated at the founding moment of a culture or civilization. Its scope is vast, its style elevated, and its subject matter typically interweaves the mortal and the divine.

Structure

Traditionally composed in a sustained heroic meter, dactylic hexameter in Greek and Latin. English epics vary: alliterative verse in Beowulf, Spenserian stanzas in The Faerie Queene, blank verse in Paradise Lost. Classical epics open with an invocation of the muse, plunge into the action in medias res, and often include catalogs, extended similes, and direct divine intervention.

An epic has no rhyme pattern to draw. It is defined by its scale and its conventions: an invocation of the muse, a heroic subject, long catalogs and extended similes.

A Short History

8th to 7th century BCThe Iliad and the Odyssey take shape in Greece.
1st century BCVirgil writes the Aeneid for Rome.
1300sDante writes the Divine Comedy in Italian.
1667John Milton publishes Paradise Lost.
TodayDerek Walcott's Omeros (1990) shows the form still lives.

Famous Epics

01"The Iliad"Homer
02"The Aeneid"Virgil
03"Paradise Lost"John Milton
04"Omeros"Derek Walcott

Questions About the Epic

The things people ask most, answered in a sentence or two.

An epic is a long narrative poem about heroic deeds, told in an elevated style. Classic epics open with a call to the muse, start in the middle of the action and mix the human with the divine.

Epics on GS Poetry

Written by poets here, this week and every week.

Structure

An epic has no rhyme pattern to draw. It is defined by its scale and its conventions: an invocation of the muse, a heroic subject, long catalogs and extended similes.

Questions About the Epic

The things people ask most, answered in a sentence or two.

An epic is a long narrative poem about heroic deeds, told in an elevated style. Classic epics open with a call to the muse, start in the middle of the action and mix the human with the divine.