2. Epic

Epic was a prestigious but also malleable and enduring ancient literary form. ‘Epic’ shows that in societies where warfare was endemic, a genre which both celebrated and explored such concepts as military heroism, loyalty, and masculinity would never lose its relevance or popularity. From Homer's Iliad and Odyssey— tales of the Trojan War and Odysseus' return to Ithaca — to Appollonius' Argonautica, Ennius' Annals, and Virgil's Aeneid, the classical epic settings of the mythical world of gods and heroes are described. The didactic epic, whose aim was to instruct the reader in subjects as varied as farming, hunting, philosophy, and science, is also considered.