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...
Mahabharata

Mahabharata

India Compiled: 3rd century BCE – 3rd century CEPresent form of text: ca. 400 CE Anonymous Mahabharata Introduction commissioned. Name of Contributor Works Cited List of works cited, if applicable. Resources...
Epic of King Gesar

Epic of King Gesar

Tibet and Central Asia Emerged in the 12th century and crystallized into its current form around the 14th century.     Anonymous The Epic of King Gesar   Widely regarded as the Tibetan national epic, the Gesar epic was presented at UNESCO’s 31st...
Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica

Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica

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...
Virgil, Aeneid

Virgil, Aeneid

Italy Composed: 29-19 BCE Virgil, Aeneid The Aeneid is a narrative poem in twelve bookrolls on the legendary origins of Rome that fully annexes the world of Greek mythological epic to the Roman thought-realm. More specifically, the Aeneid is a foundation story for the...