Ancient Literature
Virgil — The Aeneid (Roman epic: composition, reception, and manuscript tradition, 29–19 BCE)
30 BCE - 600
Valmiki's Ramayana (Sanskrit epic: composition and early redactions, c. 500 BCE–200 CE)
500 BCE - 2008
The Mahabharata (Indian epic: composition, redaction, and manuscript traditions, c. 400 BCE–400 CE)
400 BCE - 1966
The Epic of Gilgamesh (Sumerian to Standard Babylonian traditions, c. 2100–600 BCE)
2100 BCE - 2003
The Epic Cycle (Poems of the Trojan cycle: Cypria, Aethiopis, Little Iliad, etc., c. 7th–4th century BCE)
700 BCE - 950
Tale of Sinuhe (Middle Kingdom Egyptian narrative tradition, c. 1900–1700 BCE)
1991 BCE - 1973
Sumerian Lugalbanda & Enmerkar Cycle (Early Mesopotamian heroic sagas, c. 3rd–2nd millennium BCE)
2100 BCE - 1800 BCE
Ovid — Metamorphoses (Roman narrative epic and reception, 8 CE)
8 - 2026
Homeric Hymns (Collection of Greek epic hymns and cult poetry, c. 7th–3rd century BCE)
700 BCE - 2026
Homer: The Odyssey (Oral tradition to classical text, c. 8th–4th century BCE)
800 BCE - 100 BCE
Homer: The Iliad (Oral tradition to classical text, c. 8th–4th century BCE)
800 BCE - 950
Hesiod: Works and Days (Greek didactic-epic tradition, c. 8th–7th century BCE)
700 BCE - 1978