Epic Listens: 9 Works of Epic Poetry on Audio

If you’ve always thought of Beowulf as a stuffy old poem not worth your time, this translation might just change your mind. Maria Dahvana Headley brings the ancient epic to life with language that’s vivid, modern, and surprising. She captures the timeless essence of the story about kings, warriors, and monsters, but also reveals its relevance to contemporary life. JD Jackson’s perfect narration adds to the magic. His tone is sometimes wise, sometimes arrogant, and always entrancing.

The Shahnameh is an ancient Persian epic composed by the Persian poet Abolqasem Ferdowsi over 1,000 years ago. It’s a classic of Persian literature and central to the cultural and religious history of Iran and the surrounding region. The poem, full of adventure, love stories, and tragedies, tells the story of the Persian Empire: its founding, mythical origins, and history. In this translation, Ahmad Sadri has adapted the poem, originally written in Early New Persian, into a collection of prose stories. The audio production is truly immersive. In addition to Marc Thompson’s dramatic narration, it includes atmosphere music and sound effects.

We’ve been blessed in recent years with brilliant new translations of ancient epics by women, including Emily Wilson’s gorgeous new translation of The Odyssey. Odysseus’s ten-year journey to return home to Ithaca after the Trojan War is certainly one of the most famous pieces of western literature, and Wilson’s translation is a linguistic delight. Her style is direct and straightforward, musical but also accessible. Actor Clare Danes offers a lively performance that captures the drama of the original and the beautiful whimsy of Wilson’s translation.

The Mahabharata is one of the two most important and well-known Sanskrit epics from ancient India. It is the longest epic poem known (over 200,000 individual lines!), and a foundational text of Hinduism. It also holds immense cultural importance in India. The poem tells the story of two groups of warring cousins during the Kurukshetra War. It also includes philosophical and religious material, such a discussion of the goals of life, and an exploration of human relationships to each other and the world. The audiobook is over 40 hours so long — so maybe listen to it in sections!

If you’re a fan of Norse mythology, this is definitely the epic poem for you. The Poetic Edda is a collection of ancient Scandinavian poems from a 13th century Icelandic manuscript. Taken together, the poems in The Poetic Edda form the most complete collection of stories about the gods, heroes, beliefs, and myths of ancient Scandinavia and pre-Christian Viking culture. This translation includes headnotes for each poem, placing them in context and offering valuable information about the larger culture from which these poems came.

This book-length poem has the feel of a modern epic, not only because of its length, but because it recounts a journey: physical, spiritual, and emotional. The poem’s speaker is a queer Indigenous poet struggling with the idea of writing a “nature poem”, given the stereotypical connotations between nature and Indigenous people. In language that is playful, painful, silly, wise, and serious, Pico writes about online dating, family history, being an urban NDN, pop culture, and a lot more. It’s a far-ranging poem full of movement. Pico’s narration is brilliant; getting to hear his particular intonations throughout the poem is a real treat.

Poet Anne Carson’s novel in verse is both a retelling of Greek mythology and a modern coming-of-age story. The poem’s narrator, Geryon, is a red-winged monster, one of the monsters Hercules slew as part of his labors. Carson reimagines Geryon as a young man with a traumatic past who becomes the lover of Herakles. Paul Boehmer’s narration is assured and deliberate, reflecting the simple beauty of Carson’s language.

Kae Tempest is a poet and spoken-word performer. Their book-length poem Brand New Ancients blends rap, slam poetry, and oral storytelling into a unique whole that feels like the definition of a modern epic. The poem tells the story of the messy, intertwined lives of two families living in the UK. Tempest weaves the smaller stories of the city around, as well as elements of classical mythology, into the narrative. This is a book that’s meant to be listened to; Tempest’s performance is breathtaking in its immediacy.

First performed on Broadway in 1976, Ntozake Shange’s brilliant, genre-defying play has become a modern classic. First composed as a choreopoem, the work is a dazzling blend of poetry and prose. It contains the interconnected stories of a group of Black women, each recounting their struggles, joys, heartaches, and loves. Actor Thandiwe Newton, who starred in the 2010 film adaptation of the play, narrates this audio performance with passion, tenderness, and honesty.