What is a literary epic???????

Question: What is a literary epic!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Really big, expansive stories, usually on a serious subject, centered on a heroic figure(s) who embody the values of that civilization and who engage in massive conflicts, often battles!. The actions of the heroes are significant not only because they profoundly affect their people, but also because they reveal meaning in life and death!.

The earliest epics, known as primary, or original, epics, were shaped from the legends of an age when a nation was conquering and expanding; such is the foundation of the Babylonian epic of Gilgamesh, of the Iliad and the Odyssey of the Greek Homer, and of the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf!. also the legend of Troy and the Arthurian legend!.

Some more recent ones include:
Lord of the Rings series and even more recently the Harry Potter series!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Examples:

Ulysses by James Joyce
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Shogun by James Clavell
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Novels that are broad in scope and length -- usually classic, or canonical books (like Joyce's masterpiece and Chaucer's innovative text), but also can include popular books like the Clavell and Mitchell books -- James Michener and Anthony Trollope also fall under the category, as do many, many others!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The information that woowoo gave you is good; I'd just like to add that a literary epic can also encompass epic poems, such as Beowulf (author unknown), The Odyssey and The Iliad (both by Homer), and The Divine Comedy (by Dante)!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

A few more examples not listed in the answer above include:
The Odessey by Homer
Beowolf don't remember who wrote it though

Here's a website that will better explain what is than I can:
http://english!.tjc!.edu/greekromanepic/or!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com