The Epic of Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh

Mesopotamia Source poems: ca. 2100 BCEFirst Old Babylonian version: 18th century BCELater Standard Babylonian version: 13th – 10th century BCE Anonymous, The Epic of Gilgamesh Gilgamesh is probably the most ancient hero we know of. The Epic of Gilgamesh was the...
Homer, Iliad

Homer, Iliad

GREECE Oral tradition: reconstructed as far back as the second millennium BCE Written versions: reconstructed as far back at the 6th century BCE       Homer, Iliad     The ancient Greek epic poem known as the Iliad narrates an episode during the...
Homer, Odyssey

Homer, Odyssey

Greece Oral tradition: reconstructed as far back as the second millennium BCEWritten versions: reconstructed as far back as the 6th century BCE Homer, Odyssey §1. The ancient Greek epic known as the Homeric Odyssey is symmetrical with another epic, the Homeric Iliad,...
“Homer,” The Battle of Frogs and Mice

“Homer,” The Battle of Frogs and Mice

Greece 6th through 4th centuries BCE or later “Homer” The Battle of Frogs and Mice (Batrakhomuomakhia)   The Batrakhomuomakhia (“The Battle of Frogs and Mice”, also Batrakhomakhia) is our sole extant full example of epic parody. It is dated to the 6th...
Ramayana

Ramayana

India Date of composition: ca. 500 BCE -500 CEOldest extant manuscripts: 6th century CE; 11th century CE Valmiki Ramayana The Ramayana was composed in Sanskrit some time between 500 BCE and 500 CE and is attributed to the sage Valmiki. Over the centuries, as the story...