An epic poem is a lengthy narrative poem, usually set in a time beyond living memory in which the extraordinary ancestors, in their dealings with the gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants, the poet, and his audience in order to understand themselves as a people.

A Collection of the Best Epic Poems Ever Written:

Book one: The Iliad and book two: The Odyssey, are epic poems traditionally attributed to Homer, of which the written versions are dated to the eighth century BCE. Chronicling events in the Greek Bronze Age, this magnificent pair of poems forms the cornerstone of Western literature. If The Iliad is a classic war story, The Odyssey is symbolic of the individual’s journey through life. Achilles is the main hero of The Iliad, which describes the final stage of the Trojan War, a conflict between a coalition of Greek city states and the city of Troy in Anatolia. The cause of the war was the kidnapping of Helen, wife of the king of Sparta, by the Trojan Prince Paris. Longer and more complex than The Iliad, The Odyssey deals with the struggle of the hero Odysseus to return home to his island of Ithaca after the war. He faces and escapes numerous perils on the voyage, like the spell of a nymph, an intoxicating plant, a one-eyed killer giant, a hideous sea monster and the deadly sirens whose songs lure sailors to death. When Odysseus finally gets back to Ithaca, he faces a further struggle to reclaim his home.

Book three: The Divine Comedy, completed in 1320, is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri. It is considered to be the most important work of Italian literature and one of the greatest works of world literature. The Divine Comedy consists of three parts, Inferno (hell), Purgatorio (purgatory), and Paradiso (paradise).