National Epics

For ten thousand years, Ravana stands on his head amid five fires, bargaining with the creator for immunity—and extra heads and arms. Brahma grants the boon; now the gods must find a loophole.

Kate Milner Rabb’s National Epics ranges from Sanskrit India and ancient Greece to medieval Europe, introducing poems whose heroes carry the values and legends of their cultures. The opening tale, the Rāmāyana, sets the mighty demon Ravana against Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu destined to destroy him. But just as Rama is about to be named heir to the throne of Ayodhya, his father’s old promise forces him into exile for fourteen years. His devoted wife Sita insists on sharing the dangers of the forest. Can Rama fulfill his destiny far from the kingdom he was meant to rule?

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