Epic narrative

Epic narrative is undoubtedly one of the best known literary genres. Easily recognized for narrating the "legendary" and generally fictitious events of its protagonists, these being generally (self-proclaimed) heroes or gods. We have various examples ranging from the classic myths of different cultures to the recreation of the deformed subconscious of its narrator or interpreter. To cover this genre more broadly, it is necessary to return to the different genres into which it is divided.

The Epics

Let's start with the oldest of all, the epic. This genre dates back to ancient times, at which time the exploits and journeys made by the gods of these lands were narrated. They were used in such a way that he could award the wonders of their environment to said protagonists full of power and mystery.

Examples of this we have several: The Homeric poems, the Gilgamesh poem, or The Book of Kings.

The Song of Gesta

Fast forward to the Middle Ages, we have the Song of Gesta. This genre takes up the ideas of the classic Epic but guiding the protagonist of the story to human characters associated with the world previously created by those all powerful gods. The protagonists of these stories were generally described under the name of "HEROES", an adjective that in turn differs greatly from the idea of ​​a heroic character that we have today.

For examples we have: Song of the Nibelungs, The Saxons the Beowulf, and of course, stories around the more than well-known King Arthur.

Romance

Leaving aside the mythological fantasies, the Romance genre transports us to a magical and wonderful universe. It is a more innocent narrative than the rest since its charm is not oriented to action, but rather to a much quieter and simpler environment.

Examples: Roman de la Rose, Roman de Troie.

Epic poem

The epic poem is a recreation of the Epic subgenre but adapted to the modern writing style. Originally, this archetype was narrated orally under the musical accompaniment of a third party, but with the passing of time it began to adapt to the written environment. Several examples could be: El Paraíso Perdido (John Milton), Canto General (Pablo Neruda).

Legend

The legend is a popular narrative (natural or supernatural), usually using cultural elements of the person who writes it. Unlike the others, this gender model can be found in a multitude of media beyond writing, and as such, it has a huge number of examples such as: El arbol de sal (Argentina), La Llorona (Mexico) or The devil's cross (Spain).

Myth

On the other hand, and unlike the Legend, the myth is a short narrative that explains the characters narrated in other stories (Here is their connection with the previous subgenres). The myth offers us a very large number of examples, such as: Pandora (Greek Mythology), the elves (Nordic) and the divine beasts (China).