If you really love literature, why not read some of the very first known works in history?

Epic Epics is a compendium of epic poetry stretching back millennia, from the Babylonian Version of Gilgamesh, which is at least 2700 years old, to the relatively new Paradise Lost by Milton. The original ancient texts are considered primary epics, such as Beowulf, or the Mahabharata, while newer works which imitate them are known as secondary, or literary epics. Literary epics include Virgil’s Aeneid, and the Divine Comedy by Dante.

The most enduring epic poetry is of course Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, which you can read along with some literary criticism. Outside of the traditional “Hero” narrative of most epics, there’s Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a masterpiece which follows the history of the world from creation to the reign of Julius Caesar.