Ancient Greece (Egypt) Date of composition: 3rd century BCE Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica Apollonius of Rhodes composed the Argonautica in the mid-third century BC, probably working for the most part in Alexandria, which as the capital of Egypt under the rule of...
Ethiopia 14th century CE Kebra Nagast The Kebra Nagast, which means in Ethiopic “the Glory of Kings,” has fascinated scholars since the modern era. It is a Judeo-Christian based text that traces the origin of the Solomonic Dynasty of Ethiopia to the...
Saint Lucia (West Indies) Published: 1990 Derek Walcott Omeros Omeros (1990) upends the conventions of canonical Western epics by turning Caribbean fishermen into twentieth century heroes. In its titular allusion to Homer as well as in its topical and formal...
Madagascar First transcribed in 1830. Ibonia Madagascar’s Ibonia is a tale of an immaculate conception, a fiercely contested betrothal, and a bittersweet triumph. The epic was orally transmitted until 1830 when it was first written down in Malagasy. This occurred...
East Africa (Swahili) Oral tradition: 9th-13th century CEFirst transcribed: c. 13th century CE The Epic of Liyongo by Muhammad Bin Bakari Kijumwa: 1913 The Epic of Liyongo Introduction commissioned. Name of...
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