The telling of stories about history have been used up until the 20th century, and in some cases, it is still in use today. During the Middle Ages, Ballads were a common way of doing just this, and it was also a way to pass along news throughout the kingdoms. Today, Ballads are not used in the same way. However, Odes, for example, have been and will always be a way to tell stories about histories greatest feats.
The oldest surviving poem is the "Epic of Gilgamesh". The poem, based on the history of King Gilgamesh, was written around 3000 BC in Sumer, Mesopotamia in cuneiform script on clay tablets.
Aristotle's Poetics describes three genres of poetry: epic, comic and tragic. Aristotle's work was highly influential throughout the Middle East during the Islamic Golden Age, then through Europe during the Renaissance. Later, aestheticians described poetry to have three major genres: epic, lyric and dramatic, with dramatic holding the subcategories tragic and comedy. During early modern Western tradition, poets and aestheticians sought to distinguish poetry from prose by using the understanding that prose was written in a linear narrative form and used logical explication, while poetry was more abstract and beautiful.
Marian is a Romanian volunteer in Praxis Organisation involved in the World Poetry campaign.