Epic and Heroic Narrative

Long-form heroic and adventurous narrative in its oldest genre traditions: the classical epic, the idealized romance, the didactic fable, the Arabic maqama's episodic picaresque tales, and the frame tale collection's stories nested within a governing narrative. Belongs here: a genre built on heroic, idealized or episodic long narrative predating the modern novel. Does not belong here: the novel itself or its own subgenres, tracked under the novel group below.