How Epic Poems Shaped Modern Fantasy Fiction

From Gilgamesh's quest,

To Beowulf's great battles won,

Epic poems live on.

Hey guys, it’s Jim Wilbourne, author of The Continua Chronicles. I thought I’d start with a haiku because today we’re discussing how epic poems have influenced the fantasy fiction we read today.

What Are Epic Poems?

Epic poetry is an art form that you don’t see much of today, but in a time long past, they were the novels of their time, passed down through the generations from bard to bard to tell the histories and myths that held their cultures together.

Though various cultures have different conventions for how their epic poems are composed, they are essentially a narrative style featuring a hero on a quest, often needing to overcome nearly impossible tasks and returning home victorious. The poems may have established meters or rhyme schemes, but regardless of style, they are some of the oldest tales of love, loss, and the struggle between good and evil, dating back to our most ancient civilizations.

The Epic of Gilgamesh

“What you seek you shall never find

For when the Gods made man

They kept immortality to themselves”

— The Epic of Gilgamesh

It’s probably impossible to talk about epic poetry and not mention The Epic of Gilgamesh.

This Mesopotamian text was written around 2500 BC, making it one of the oldest surviving works of literature in the world. The epic chronicles the story of the king of Uruk and his quest to discover the secret of immortality.

Gilgamesh, ruler of Uruk, part god, part human, is powerful but cruel. A god sends Enkidu to his realm to challenge Gilgamesh and adventure with him to the ends of the world, seeking the key to immortality. Along the way, Gilgamesh and Enkidu become friends while facing a number of fantastic trails, meeting and battling supernatural forces, receiving divine aid, and suffering tremendous grief. Though Gilgamesh ultimately finds the key to immortality, he tragically loses it, but returns to Uruk a wiser and better king.

This is a rather brief summary of the story, and there are multiple versions that appeared in Babylonian and Sumerian traditions. There are even many biblical parallels that suggest that Gilgamesh had an influence on the legends of the bible, which, along with the epic poem itself, had a significant influence on fantasy storytelling over the ages.

Even within this light summary, you might already be able to see some of the staples of modern fantasy storytelling. A flawed hero, a quest, supernatural aid, battles, and a return home—all the classic conventions of the hero’s journey that we find in some of our modern classics like The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars.

The Iliad

“And Iris came on Helen in her rooms…

weaving a growing web, a dark red folding robe,

working into the weft the endless bloody struggles

stallion-breaking Trojans and Argives armed in bronze

had suffered all for her at the god of battle’s hands.”

— The Illiad, Homer

Written in dactylic hexameter and originally divided into 24 books around 750 BC, The Iliad is one of Homer’s greatest works. While we don’t know who Homer is or if he or she was actually one specific individual, Homer’s contribution to myth, literature, and modern fantasy can’t be denied.

The epic follows Achilles, a near-invincible Greek warrior, during the Trojan War. He is a man driven by rage and grief. He feels that he’s been dishonored and cheated, so he refuses to fight. But when his actions lead to the death of his friend, he returns to battle for revenge. Though he gets his revenge, he finds that all his anger and hatred led to the death of so many people and that true honor comes from fighting for the greater good, not personal gain.

The Iliad shares many of the same tropes as its predecessor, The Epic of Gilgamesh. Again we see a powerful but flawed hero who learns a tragic lesson and must endure the tragic loss of a companion because of his own actions.

And while they both explore the idea of immortality, Gilgamesh’s quest is much more literal. Achilles’s quest is transcendental—a search for immortality through fame and glory.

What’s also interesting is that The Iliad portrays the gods in a very different light than in Gilgamesh’s tale. Homer presents a set of gods who are much more human-like, directly intervening with the Trojan War. The Epic of Gilgamesh’s gods are otherworldly and ethereal.

Godhood and immortality are often intertwined concepts. Both poems use these ideas to tell a grand tale, but The Iliad takes the opportunity to turn these ideas inside out and reinvents the theme.

Let’s shift to another time and place and look at another important player in epic poetry.

The Mahabharata

“Words are invaluable, speak them if you must. Weigh them carefully before you speak them out.”

— Mahabharata

One of the two major ancient Indian epics, the Mahabharata was likely written between 400 BCE and the fourth century. It’s a rather large span of time, but the work itself is also immense.

Comprised of roughly 1.8 million words, it’s the longest epic poem in the world. It’s no wonder that it probably took several hundred years to ink.

That’s a lot of words, weighed carefully, of course.

The epic tells the story of five royal brothers who are banished for twelve years after a jealous feud between them and their cousins. The brothers fight off assassins sent after them to finish the job and eventually return to take back their portion of the empire. But their cousins aren’t keen to give back what they’ve taken and it leads to a war. The five brothers do eventually emerge victorious, but it comes at a great cost.

While this story is the central, well-known plot of the Mahabharata, it’s not the only story within it. About eighty percent of the other verses of the epic address other myths and legends that form some of the pillar tales of Hinduism.

The epic has been told and retold, and its lessons not only inspired many literary works for centuries, but it also explored many aspects of the human condition, emphasizing the importance of duty, honor, and karma.

Today’s Influence

Although epic poetry isn’t as common in modern storytelling as prose and film took center stage in the past few hundred years, epic poetry has had a profound impact on modern fantasy storytelling.

The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss not only features a bard as its primary hero—drawing on the tradition of poetry and song as a medium of storytelling—but Kvothe is a very Achilles-like character, being both incredibly talented but also flawed in his pride.

The Kaurava Empire by Jason Quinn is a graphic novel that takes many elements of the Mahabharata and places them in a science fiction setting—an Indian epic poem in space.

And just like the great warrior, Gilgamesh, is haunted by the death of his friend in his poem, Logan Ninefingers from The First Law Trilogy is similarly haunted by the deaths he’s caused, driving his isolation.

Poetry is often associated with the craft of word placement. Rhythm and rhyme play with symbolism and structure to invoke a tone and theme that surpasses rudimentary texts.

Modern fantasy prose and poetry from Tolkien, Rothfuss, Le Guin, and many other modern fantasy storytellers can be seen to take its traditions from the staying power of the epic poems that laid the foundation for the stories they’ve built.

Epic poetry’s use of epic narratives, their portrayal of legendary heroes, the incorporation of mythical creatures, gods, and magic have paired with their themes and evocative verses to leave a lasting impact on fantasy stories for generations to come.

But what do you think? How do you think epic poems have influenced modern fantasy stories? What epic poems do you think are ripe for a retelling for a contemporary audience?

Let me know in the comments. I’d love to know what you think and discuss it further with you.

If you enjoy Fantasy stories, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy mine as well.

And your first adventure is free!