Synopsis | Epic Poem |
A Sumerian king goes on adventures with his companion Enkidu, and searches for immortality after the latter's death. | |
A conflict arises between Achilles and Agamemnon in the final weeks of the Trojan War. | |
A Greek hero encounters many obstacles on his long journey home from Troy. | |
A pious Hebrew man struggles to retain his piety through trials with Satan, and to reconcile the existence of evil with the belief in God. | |
Five brothers gamble away their money and spend time in exile before returning to reclaim the throne of India, culminating in the Battle of Kurukshetra and the death of Krishna. | |
Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu, pursues the demon king Ravana in an effort to reunite with his kidnapped wife Sita. | |
Jason, on an oracle's advice, assembles a shipload of fifty heroes to retrieve the Golden Fleece. | |
A Trojan hero flees the burning of Troy and goes to Italy, becoming the ancestor of the Romans. | |
A series of unconnected transformation stories central to the mythological creation and history of the world. | |
An Anglo-Saxon hero battles three monsters (notably Grendel), becomes king and dies after being mortally wounded. | |
Many traditional Norse poems compiled into one volume. | |
Charlemagne's army, retreating from Spain, is attacked and courageously fights a losing battle against the Basques. | |
A disabled Mandinka man raises an army to overthrow the king of Sosso and becomes the first ruler of the Mali Empire. | |
The dragon-slayer Siegfried lives at the Court of the Burgundians, is murdered and then avenged. | |
A Kyrgyz hero and his followers defend their people against invading Kitay and Kalmak enemies. | |
Dante is guided by the poet Virgil through the three realms of the dead: hell, purgatory and paradise. | |
Two clans, the Taira and the Minamoto, struggle for control of Japan in the Genpei War in the 12th century. | |
Adam and Eve are tempted by Satan and expelled from the Garden of Eden. | |
A compilation of many traditional Finnish and Karelian folktales dealing with the creation and history of the world. | |
Various American Indian legends are compiled, centering around an Ojibwe hero and his love for his wife, Minehaha. | |
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