Epic

14 works

14 works of Epic in the Western literary canon — ranked by Gröblé, with difficulty, length, and influence at a glance.

Epic, Ranked

According to Groblé

  1. 1The Divine Comedy1320Dante AlighieriHard·Long·460 pagesInfluence97Popularity84MedievalEpicItalian
  2. 6Paradise Lost1667John MiltonHard·Long·319 pagesInfluence92Popularity69RenaissanceEpicEnglish
  3. 15The Aeneid19 BCVirgilHard·Long·472 pagesInfluence96Popularity70Ancient RomeEpicLatin
  4. 24The Mahabharata~400 BCVyasaModerate·Epic·2,160 pagesInfluence78Popularity65Ancient WorldEpicSanskrit
  5. 58The Iliad~750 BCHomerHard·Long·459 pagesInfluence99Popularity92Ancient GreeceEpicAncient Greek
  6. 71The Epic of Gilgamesh~1200 BCAnonymousModerate·Short·80 pagesInfluence83Popularity71Ancient WorldEpicSumerian/Akkadian
  7. 74The Odyssey~725 BCHomerHard·Long·485 pagesInfluence98Popularity94Ancient GreeceEpicAncient Greek
  8. 81Beowulf~1000UnknownModerate·Medium·112 pagesInfluence65Popularity71MedievalEpicOld English
  9. 93The Nibelungenlied~1200UnknownModerate·Long·403 pagesInfluence63Popularity31MedievalEpicMiddle High German
  10. 100Metamorphoses8OvidHard·Epic·600 pagesInfluence95Popularity67Ancient RomeEpicLatin
  11. 143The Lusiads1572Luís de CamõesHard·Long·282 pagesInfluence7Popularity13RenaissanceEpicPortuguese
  12. 161The Song of Roland~1100UnknownModerate·Medium·224 pagesInfluence64Popularity31MedievalEpicOld French
  13. 190The Poetic Edda~1270UnknownModerate·Long·360 pagesInfluence6Popularity30MedievalEpicOld Norse
  14. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner1798Samuel Taylor ColeridgeModerate·Quick·17 pagesInfluence—Popularity—PoetsEpicEnglish