What is the single best epic poem of all time?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Because you demanded it! We know you nerds have opinions on this.

It's not cheating to say Beowulf or Dante's Inferno, but there's a lot more out there.

I'd say any Alice in Wonderland fan should check out the Hunting of the Snark -- essentially the third story in the Wonderland setting -- and Lord Byron's Cain blew my mind when I read it in college.

 

[Joshua Randall]

Define ‘epic poem’ please. It will dramatically affect my answer.

 

[jdrakeh]

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

 

[deganawida]

Hmm, might not qualify as epic, but I’ve always favored, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Define ‘epic poem’ please. It will dramatically affect my answer.

To get more diversity and interesting answers, let's just say it's a lengthy narrative poem, probably about a legendary figure.

 

[deganawida]

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

LOL, great minds!

 

[Kobold Stew]

The Iliad.

I can say without irony that it's one of the two books that I've read cover to cover that has changed me, deeply, into who I am today. Part of the reason why is that it helped set the course of my job and career, teaching Greek poetry. That's not where I started, but it is where I went once I started reading Homer. But more than that:

The Iliad can find immense beauty and therefore meaning in transient moments of human contact, within a brutal world in which suffering exists and divine justice is either absent or inscrutable. It identifies being human as an inevitable struggle, but one that can become purposeful, even if it is also tragic. It is a poem about war in which (almost) every death is named, and therefore not forgotten. It celebrates life and peace even as it recognizes so much of human activity as fundamentally destructive.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I will say this for Homer, "wine-dark sea" is such a great idiom, it's lasted two thousand years.

 

[Dioltach]

I translated the Iliad from the Greek at school, and the original has a wonderful sound, it's definitely meant for oral recital.

But I'll stick with my choice on the other thread: Beowulf. Alliterative poetry showcases the English language at its best, and the story itself is such a romp that you can easily imagine a hall full of Saxons roaring along to it.

 

[Parmandur]

Paradise Lost. It's so good that John Milton, despite being an absolute toolbox, is one of my top 5 writers of all time