Epic catalogue

Last updated January 26, 2026

An epic catalogue is a long, detailed list of objects, places or people that is a characteristic of epic poetry.

Examples

In the Iliad :^[1]
- Catalogue of Ships, the most famous epic catalogue
- Trojan Battle Order
In the Odyssey , the catalogue of women in Hades in Book XI.
In the Argonautica , the catalogue of heroes in Book I.
In the Aeneid , the list of enemies the Trojans find in Etruria in Book VII. Also, the list of ships in Book X.^[2]
In Ovid's Metamorphoses , the catalogue of Actaeon's dogs (Book I) and of trees (Book X).
In the Völuspá , the "Dvergatal" or catalogue of dwarfs.
In The Faerie Queene , the list of trees I.i.8-9 and the list of rivers IV.xii.
In Paradise Lost , the list of demons in Book I.^[3]

References

↑ Gaertner, Jan Felix (2001). "The Homeric Catalogues and Their Function in Epic Narrative". Hermes . 129 (3): 298–305. JSTOR 4477439.
↑ Christine Perkell, ed. (1999). Reading Vergil's Aeneid: An Interpretative Guide. Oklahoma Series in Classical Culture. Vol. 23. University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 190–194. ISBN 9780806131399. Archived from the original on 2017-05-10. Retrieved 2013-05-17.
↑ Quint, David (Spring 2007). "Milton's Book of Numbers: Book 1 of Paradise Lost and Its Catalogue". International Journal of the Classical Tradition. 13 (4): 528–549. doi:10.1007/bf02923024. JSTOR 30222176. S2CID 161875103.

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[1] Gaertner, Jan Felix (2001). "The Homeric Catalogues and Their Function in Epic Narrative". Hermes . 129 (3): 298–305. JSTOR 4477439.

[2] Christine Perkell, ed. (1999). Reading Vergil's Aeneid: An Interpretative Guide. Oklahoma Series in Classical Culture. Vol. 23. University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 190–194. ISBN 9780806131399. Archived from the original on 2017-05-10. Retrieved 2013-05-17.

[quint-3] Quint, David (Spring 2007). "Milton's Book of Numbers: Book 1 of Paradise Lost and Its Catalogue". International Journal of the Classical Tradition. 13 (4): 528–549. doi:10.1007/bf02923024. JSTOR 30222176. S2CID 161875103.

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