national epic

noun

1. a long narrative poem in a dignified style about the deeds of a traditional or historical hero or heroes; typically,
   1. a poem like the Iliad or the Odyssey, with certain formal characteristics (beginning in medias res, catalog passages, invocations of the muse, etc.)
      called classical epic
   2. a poem like Milton's Paradise Lost, in which such characteristics are applied to later or different materials
      called art epic or literary epic
   3. a poem like Beowulf, considered as expressing the early ideals and traditions of a people or nation
      called folk epic or national epic
2. any long narrative poem regarded as having the style, structure, and importance of an epic, as Dante's Divine Comedy
3. a prose narrative, play, film, etc. regarded as having the qualities of an epic
4. a series of events regarded as a proper subject for an epic

adjective

1. of an epic
2. having the nature of an epic; specif.,
   also epical
   1. heroic; grand; majestic; imposing
   2. dealing with or characterized by events of historical or legendary importance