Greco-Roman Epics

Greco-Roman epic is extended narrative poetry about heroic action, journeys, and the histories of peoples. The Iliad follows the anger of Achilles within the Trojan War, while the Odyssey centres on Odysseus’ difficult return to his household. Virgil’s Aeneid gives the journey of a Trojan survivor a place in Rome’s account of its origins. Speeches, repeated phrases, formal comparisons, and encounters with the divine give these narratives their characteristic scale. Heroic achievement is repeatedly tested against grief, loyalty, and responsibility, so that the poems preserve the human costs of action alongside its renown.