Epic Poetry: Did you mean...?

Anthology of Persian Poetry with the poems of Hafez Shiraz Folios 33r-32v Iran, 17th century CE

Gregory of Tours is forced to listen to the bad poetry of King Chilperic I (r. 561-584) of Neustria. Illustratuon by Jean-Paul Laurensfor the work of Augustin Thierry, Récits des temps mérovingiens (Paris, 1881).

This full-page illustration depicts Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 - 1400 CE) reading his poem Troilus and Criseyde to the court of Richard II of England (1367 - 1400 CE). This copy of Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde was made c. 1415 - 1425 CE...

A scene composed of Persian colored tiles showing a picnic in a garden. First-quarter of the 17th century, Isfahan, Iran. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

17th-century, woodcut recreation of Li Po writing 100 verses while drinking a quart of wine seated on the veranda with a group of men.

In honour of World Poetry Day which is celebrated on March 21st, we are introducing three prominent Female Poets from the Ancient World! Enheduanna is the first author that we know of by name, and she was writing in Mesopotamia between 2285-2250...

Sappho of Lesbos (l. c. 620-570 BCE) was a lyric poet whose work was so popular in ancient Greece that she was honored in statuary, coinage, and pottery centuries after her death. Little remains of her work, and these fragments suggest she...

The Roman love poet Catullus wrote passionate poems about his tempestuous relationship with 'Lesbia', as well as obscene diatribes about high profile contemporaries like Julius Caesar. In this vodcast Dr Rhiannon Evans and Dr Sonya Wurster...

Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586) was an English poet, scholar, soldier, and courtier, one of the most prominent figures at the court of Queen Elizabeth I of England (r. 1558-1603). During his lifetime, he was revered as the ideal Elizabethan...

Sometimes it is the smallest discoveries that have the largest impact. When Alexandra Kleinerman and Alhena Gadotti found a new fragment of the Epic of Gilgamesh in 2015 CE, it did not seem to be particularly impressive. The broken tablet...