This infographic illustrates the Epic Cycle (Ἐπικὸς Κύκλος), a lost collection of ancient Greek epic poems that once narrated the full arc of the Trojan War and its aftermath, from the origins of the conflict to the heroes' returns. Though only fragments survive today, the Cycle was once seen as a comprehensive mytho-historical narrative surrounding Troy.

Likely composed between the 7th and 6th centuries BCE, these poems, including the Cypria, Aethiopis, Little Iliad, and Nostoi, complement Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, which are the only epics from the Cycle preserved in full. The others survive through summaries by later writers like Proclus. The Epic Cycle reflects the oral traditions of Archaic Greece and shaped the mythological canon of later literature, drama, and art.