Epic

Epic

Noting or pertaining to a poetic composition, usually centered upon a hero, in which a series of great achievements or events is narrated continuously and at length in elevated style. Homer's Iliad is an Epic poem. Originally a poem, an Epic became a story that was worthy to form the subject of an Epic. The Defence of the Alamo is an American Epic. [RA] {BD}
A poem like Milton's Paradise Lost, in which characteristics such as catalog passages and invocations of the muse are applied to later or different materials. Originally an Epic was a long narrative poem about the deeds of a hero or heroes. Later "Epic" began to describe any story that had the qualities of an Epic poem. [AM] {CL}