This is a list of epic poems.
Ancient epics (to AD 500) Before the 8th century BC Epic of Gilgamesh (Mesopotamian religion) Epic of Lugalbanda (including Lugalbanda in the Mountain Cave and Lugalbanda and the Anzud Bird, Mesopotamian religion) Epic of Enmerkar (including Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta and Enmerkar and En-suhgir-ana, Mesopotamian religion) Atrahasis (Mesopotamian religion) Enuma Elish (Babylonian religion) The Descent of Inanna into the Underworld (Mesopotamian religion) Legend of Keret (Ugaritic religion)
8th to 6th centuries BC Iliad, ascribed to Homer (Greek mythology) Odyssey, ascribed to Homer (Greek mythology) Works and Days, composed by Hesiod (Greek mythology) Theogony, composed by Hesiod (Greek mythology) Shield of Heracles, ascribed to Hesiod (Greek mythology) Catalogue of Women, ascribed to Hesiod (Greek mythology; only fragments survive) Cypria, Aethiopis, Little Iliad, Iliupersis, Nostoi and Telegony, forming the so-called Epic Cycle (only fragments survive) Oedipodea, Thebaid, Epigoni and Alcmeonis, forming the so-called Theban Cycle (only fragments survive) A series of poems ascribed to Hesiod during antiquity (of which only fragments survive): Aegimius (alternatively ascribed to Cercops of Miletus), Astronomia, Descent of Perithous, Idaean Dactyls (almost completely lost), Megala Erga, Megalai Ehoiai, Melampodia and Wedding of Ceyx Capture of Oechalia, ascribed to Homer or Creophylus of Samos during antiquity (only a fragment survives) Phocais, ascribed to Homer during antiquity (only a fragment survives) Titanomachy ascribed to Eumelus of Corinth (only a fragment survives) Danais (written by one of the cyclic poets and from which the Danaid tetralogy of Aeschylus draws its material), Minyas and Naupactia (almost completely lost)
5th to 4th centuries BC Heracleia, tells of the labors of Heracles, almost completely lost, written by Panyassis (Greek mythology) Mahābhārata, ascribed to Veda Vyasa (Indian religion) Ramayana, ascribed to Valmiki (Indian religion)
3rd century BC Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes (Greek mythology) Batrachomyomachia, ascribed to Homer in antiquity (Parodic epic)
2nd century BC Annales by Ennius (Roman history; only fragments survive)
1st century BC De rerum natura by Lucretius (natural philosophy) Georgics by Virgil (didactic poem) Aeneid by Virgil (Roman mythology)
1st century AD Metamorphoses by Ovid (Greek and Roman mythology) Pharsalia by Lucan (Roman history; unfinished) Argonautica by Gaius Valerius Flaccus (Roman poet, Greek mythology; incomplete) Punica by Silius Italicus (Roman history) Thebaid and Achilleid by Statius (Roman poet, Greek mythology; latter poem incomplete)
2nd century Buddhacarita by Aśvaghoṣa (Indian epic poetry) Halieutica by Oppian (Greek didactic on fishing)
3rd to 4th centuries Posthomerica by Quintus of Smyrna (Greek mythology) The Sack of Troy by Triphiodorus (Greek mythology) The Vision of Dorotheus by Dorotheus (Christian Epic) Cento Vergilianus de laudibus Christi by Faltonia Betitia Proba
4th century Kumārasambhava by Kālidāsa (Indian epic poetry) Raghuvaṃśa by Kālidāsa (Indian epic poetry) Blemyomachia (Greek, only fragments survive) De raptu Proserpinae by Claudian (Roman poet, Greek mythology; incomplete) Evangeliorum Libri Quattuor by Juvencus (Gospel Epic) Gigantomachy by Claudian (Greek Mythology; incomplete) Orphic Argonautica, ascribed to Orpheus (Greek mythology)
5th century Argonautica Orphica by Anonymous (Greek mythology) Carmen Paschale by Sedulius (Gospel Epic) Paraphrasis Evangelii Sancti Ionhannis by Nonnus (Biblical Paraphrase) Dionysiaca by Nonnus (Greek mythology) Mahavamsa first composed by Mahānāma (Pali epic) Psychomachia by Prudentius (Christian allegory) Yadegar-e Zariran (Zoroastrian Middle Persian epic) Cilappatikāram by Iḷaṅkō Aṭikaḷ (Tamil epic) Manimekalai by Kulavāṇikaṉ Seethalai Sataṉar (Tamil buddhist epic)
Medieval epics (500–1500) 6th century De Actibus Apostolorum by Arator, epic retelling of the Acts of the Apostles Iohannis by Corippus, Latin epic on the Byzantine conquest of North Africa The Abduction of Helen by Colluthus, Greek mythology Kar-Namag i Ardashir i Pabagan, This epic narrates the story of Ardashir I, the founder of the Sassanid dynasty, written in Middle Persian Vita Sancti Martini by Venantius Fortunatus, on the life of St Martin of Tours
7th century Táin Bó Cúailnge (Old Irish) Bhaṭṭikāvya,Fallon, Oliver. Bhatti's Poem: The Death of Rávana (Bhaṭṭikāvya). New York 2009: Clay Sanskrit Library, . . Sanskrit courtly epic based on the Rāmāyaṇa and the Aṣṭādhyāyī of Pāṇini Kiratarjuniya by Bharavi, Sanskrit epic based on an episode in the Mahabharata Shishupala Vadha by Magha, Sanskrit epic based on another episode in the Mahabharata
8th to 10th centuries Beowulf (Old English) Waldere, Old English version of the story told in Waltharius (below), known only as a brief fragment Alpamysh, a Turkic epic Karolus magnus et Leo papa (Carolingian, Latin, before 814) Daredevils of Sassoun (Armenian) Bhagavata Purana (Sanskrit) "Stories of the Lord", based on earlier sources Lay of Hildebrand and Muspilli (Old High German, ) Kakawin Ramayana, Javanese version of the Ramayana (c. 870) Shahnameh (Persian literature; details Persian legend and history from prehistoric times to the fall of the Sassanid Empire, by Ferdowsi) Waltharius by Ekkehard of St. Gall (Germany, Latin); about Walter of Aquitaine Poetic Edda (no particular authorship; oral tradition of the North Germanic peoples) Vikramarjuna Vijaya and Ādi purāṇa (c. 941), Kannada poems by Adikavi Pampa Ajitha Purana and Gadaayuddha (c.993 and c.999), Kannada poems by Ranna Neelakesi (Tamil Jain epic) Cīvaka Cintāmaṇi by Tiruttakkatēvar (Tamil epic) Valayapathi by Kamil Zvelebil (Tamil jain epic; almost entirely lost) Kundalakēci by Nathakuthanaar (Tamil buddhist epic; fragments survive)
11th century
Taghribat Bani Hilal (Arabic); see also Arabic epic literature Andhra Mahabharatam (Telugu) by Nannayya Ruodlieb (Latin), by a German author Digenis Akritas (Greek); about a hero of the Byzantine Empire Epic of King Gesar (Tibetan) Garshaspname (Persian) by Asadi Tusi (1066) Carmen Campidoctoris, the first poem about El Cid (c. 1083) Song of Armouris (Byzantine, acritic song) Borzu Nama, ascribed to 'Amid Abu'l 'Ala' 'Ata b. Yaqub Kateb Razi (Persian epic with a main character and a poetic style related to the "Shahnameh") Faramarz Nama (Persian epic with a main character and a poetic style related to the "Shahnameh") Mushika-vamsha (Sanskrit) by Atula The Song of Roland (Old French)
12th century Khamba Thoibi (Manipuri Epic by Hijam Anganghal) Acallam na Senórach (Middle Irish) Historia Regum Britanniae (Latin) The Knight in the Panther's Skin (Georgian) by Shota Rustaveli Alexandreis by Walter of Châtillon (Latin) De bello Troiano and the lost Antiocheis (Latin) by Joseph of Exeter Carmen de Prodicione Guenonis, version of the story of the Song of Roland in Latin Architrenius by John of Hauville, (Latin satire) Liber ad honorem Augusti by Peter of Eboli, narrative of the conquest of Sicily by Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (Latin) The Tale of Igor's Campaign and Bylinas (Old east Slavic) (11th–19th centuries) Gita Govinda (Sanskrit) by Jayadeva Naishadha Charita (Sanskrit) by Sriharsha Parishishtaparvan (Sanskrit) by Hemachandra Prithviraja Vijaya (Sanskrit) by Jayanaka (1191–1192) Roman de Troie by Benoît de Sainte-Maure (Old French) Roman de Brut and Roman de Rou by Wace (Old French) Poem of Almería (Latin) Eupolemius (Latin) by an anonymous German-speaking author Bahman Nama and Kush Nama (Persian) ascribed to Hakim Īrānšāh b. Abi'l Khayr Banu Goshasp Nama (Persian) Ramavataram (Tamil) by Kambar, based on the "Ramayana" Cycle of the First Crusade (Old French) by Graindor de Douai and others Digenes Akritas (Greek), the most famous Byzantine epic
13th century Nibelungenlied (Middle High German) Kudrun (Middle High German) Daniel von dem blühenden Tal (Middle High German) Brut by Layamon (Early Middle English) Chanson de la Croisade Albigeoise ("Song of the Albigensian Crusade"; Old Occitan) Antar (Arabic); see also Arabic epic literature Sirat al-Zahir Baibars (Arabic); see also Arabic epic literature Osman's Dream (Ottoman Turkish) Epic of Sundiata (Malinke People) El Cantar de Mio Cid, Spanish epic of the Reconquista (Old Spanish) De triumphis ecclesiae by Johannes de Garlandia (Latin) Gesta Regum Britanniae by William of Rennes (Latin) Van den vos Reynaerde (Middle Dutch) Poema de Fernán González, cantar de gesta by a monk of San Pedro de Arlanza; 1250–1266 (Old Spanish) Jewang ungi by Yi Seung-hyu ("Rhymed Chronicles of Sovereigns"; 1287 Korea) Basava purana by Palkuriki Somanatha (Telugu) Jahangirnama by Qasim Madih Harawi (largely an imitation of the Borzu Nama)
14th century Alliterative Morte Arthure (Middle English)(c. 1375–1400) Divine Comedy (Christian mythology) by Dante Alighieri Cursor Mundi (Middle English) by an anonymous cleric (c. 1300) Africa by Petrarch (Latin) The Tale of the Heike, Japanese epic war tale The Brus by John Barbour (Scots) La Spagna (Italian) attributed to Sostegno di Zanobi (c. 1350–1360) Mocedades de Rodrigo (Old Spanish) (c. 1360) Siege of Jerusalem (c. 1370–1380, Middle English) Troilus and Criseyde (Middle English) by Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1380) Mabinogi (Middle Welsh) Zafarnamah (Persian) by Hamdollah Mostowfi
15th century Hammira Mahakavya by Nayachandra Suri (Sanskrit) The Fall of the Princes by John Lydgate (1431–1438) Yuan Phai () by Royal Poets of King Borommatrai-lokkanat (c. 1475) Mahachat Kham luang () a Siamese retelling of Vessantara Jataka by Royal Poets of King Borommatrai-lokkanat (1492) Orlando innamorato (Italian) by Matteo Maria Boiardo (1495) Shmuel-Bukh (Old Yiddish chivalry romance based on the Biblical book of Samuel) Mlokhim-Bukh (Old Yiddish epic poem based on the Biblical Books of Kings) Book of Dede Korkut (Oghuz Turks) Le Morte d'Arthur (Middle English) Morgante (Italian) by Luigi Pulci (1485), with elements typical of the mock-heroic genre The Wallace by Blind Harry (Scots chivalric poem) Troy Book by John Lydgate, about the Trojan war (Middle English) Heldenbuch (Middle High German) a group of manuscripts and prints of the 15th and 16th centuries, typically including material from the Theodoric cycle and the cycle of Hugdietrich, Wolfdietrich and Ortnit Ibong Adarna (Filipino) whose real author is not known
Modern epics (from 1500) 16th century Lilit Phra Lo () by King Ramathibodi II (–1529) Judita (Croatian) by Marko Marulić (1501) Shahenshah Nameh and Khamsa (including Timurnameh) by Hatefi, Poetic Epics One about exploits of Shah Ismail I and the other about Timur (1510) Ismailnameh an epic poem on shah Ismail I heroic deeds by Qsimi Qunabadi nephew of Hatifi (1513) Orlando Furioso (Italian) by Ludovico Ariosto (1516) Theuerdank and Weisskunig (Weisskunig was not published until 1775) by Maximilian I and Marx Treitzsaurwein, often considered the last medieval epics. Davidiad (Latin) by Marko Marulić (1517) Christiad (Latin) by Marco Girolamo Vida (1535) Padmavat (Hindustani) by Malik Muhammad Jayasi (1540) Süleymanname by Arifi çelebi (1558) Sang Sinxay, the most famous epic poem of Laos, was written around mid sixteenth century. Franciade (French) by Pierre de Ronsard (1540s–1572) De Gestis Mendi de Saa by Joseph of Anchieta (1560) L'Amadigi by Bernardo Tasso (1560) La Araucana by Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga (1569–1589) Os Lusíadas by Luís de Camões () La Gerusalemme liberata by Torquato Tasso (1575) Ramacharitamanasa (based on the Ramayana) by Goswami Tulsidas (1577) The Faerie Queene (Early Modern English) by Edmund Spenser (1596) Venus and Adonis (1593) and The Rape of Lucrece (1594) (Early Modern English) by Shakespeare The Dam San of the Ede people (now in Vietnam) is often considered to have appeared in the 16th or 17th century.
17th century