The English word epic comes from Latin epicus, which itself comes from the Ancient Greek adjective ἐπικός (epikos), from ἔπος (epos), "word, … 展开

Originating before the invention of writing, primary epics, such as those of Homer, were composed by bards who used complex rhetorical and metrical schemes by which they could memorize the epic as received in tradition and add to the epic in their performances. … 展开

In his work Poetics, Aristotle defines an epic as one of the forms of poetry, contrasted with lyric poetry and drama (in the form of tragedy and … 展开

• Poetry portal
• Alliterative verse
• Albanian epic poetry
• Arabic epic literature
• Alpamysh
• Bosniak epic poetry 展开

The first epics were products of preliterate societies and oral history poetic traditions. Oral tradition was used alongside written scriptures to communicate and facilitate the spread of culture. In … 展开

The primary form of epic, especially as discussed in this article, is the heroic epic, including such works as the Iliad and Mahabharata. … 展开

• de Vries, Jan (1978). Heroic Song and Heroic Legend. ISBN 0-405-10566-5.
• Hashmi, Alamgir (2011). "Eponymous écriture and the poetics of … 展开