An epic poem, epic (from Latin epicus, from the Ancient Greek adjective ἐπικός, epikos, from ἔπος, epos, "word, story, poem"), epos (from Latin epos, from Greek ἔπος, epos), or epopee (from French épopée, from neo-Latin epopoeia, from Ancient Greek ἐποποιία, epopoiia) is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Milman Parry and Albert Lord have argued that the Homeric epics, the earliest works of Western literature, were fundamentally an oral poetic form. These works form the basis of the epic genre in Western literature. Nearly all Western epic (including Virgil's Aeneid and Dante's Divine Comedy) self-consciously presents itself as a continuation of the tradition begun by these poem