Poetry Kaleidoscope

National Epic

The concept of a National epic, a mythological or partly mythological large work of epic poetry of defining importance to a certain nation (a political (or would-be) entity and/or an ethno-religuous identity), is a product of the 19th century phenomenon of Romantic nationalism. Examples of epics that have been enlisted as

Western

• Aeneid - Ancient Rome
• Beowulf - Anglo-Saxons
• Táin Bó Cúailnge - Ireland
• Digenis Acritas - Greece
• Iliad and Odyssey - Ancient Greece, i.e; Hellas and its even more important Mediterranean diaspora
• Kalevipoeg - Estonia
• Kalevala - Finland
  • Despite the similar names and close linguistic and cultural ties between Finland and Estonia, Kalevala and Kalevipoeg are two completely separate works.
• De Leeuw van Vlaanderen ("Flanders' Lion", nickname of the hero against the French oppressor; in Dutch) Flanders, Dutch-speaking northern majority in the historically semi-artificial state of Belgium
• The Lusiads ("We, Lusitanians")- Portugal
• Pan Tadeusz - Poland
• Song of Roland - France (on the Carolingian champion-paladin Orlando, fighting the Moors)
• Cantar de Mio Cid - Spain, on a hero in the Reconquista
• Zadonshchnina, Kulikovo Pole, History of the House of Romanov, Prince Igor's Song - Russia
• Fall of Sziget, Székelyek Erdélyben - Hungary
• The Highland Lute - Albania

Oriental

• Ancient Chinese legends from the Yellow Emperor to Yu of Xia as recorded in the Epic of Darkness, Records of the Grand Historian (Shi Ji) and the Huainanzi. Also the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, the Pantheon of Zhou, the Journey to the West, the Water Margin, and The Story of the Stone - China
• Mahabharata, Ramayana - India
• Book of Dede Korkut - Oghuz nations like Turkmenistan, Turkey and Azerbaijan
• Chora Batyr - Kypchak nations like Tatarstan
• Manas - Kyrgyzstan
• Shahnameh - ancient Persia (Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan)
• Jangar - Kalmykia or Oirad Mongols
• Borte Chino, Ergenekon and Genghis Khan's biography from Secret History of Mongols: Mongolia
• Ergenekon - Turkey
• Gesar - Tibet
• Kojiki, Nihongi - Japan
• Tangun myths - Korea
• Au Lac myths, The Tale of Kieu - Vietnam
• Alpamysh - Muslim Turkic nations

Other

• Popol Vuh - Mayans

See also

• list of world folk-epics

Home | Up | National Epic | World Folk-epics

Poetry Kaleidoscope Powered by Usefulref.com