Women: not typically written about in classical long poetry in any world literature. Traditional cultures of the world were dominated by boys and men. But here a few that were written that glorified girls and women.

1. Manimekalai by Seethalai Saathanar (INDIA)

This long Tamil poem is just as long as The Odyssey, with about 18,000 lines. The long Tamil poem was published in India around the year 200 AD (1,800 years ago). The long Tamil poem is a biography about an Indian woman named Manimekalai, the daughter of Kovalan and Madhavi (the main characters from the Silappadikaram). This long Tamil poem is feministic in nature, relating in detail the life of this young Indian woman in becoming a heroine in the midst of a male dominated Indian culture. This long Tamil poem serves as inspiration for young Indian women of all Indian dialects worldwide. This story is similar to the Fa Mulan legend of the Chinese people, depicting a strong woman in the midst of a male dominated tradional culture and society where girls and ladies were second class citizens with no say or control in their life. It was boys and men who controlled the fate and destiny of girls and women. The exception is with this legendary Indian woman,  Manimekalai. Great feminist world literature indeed!

2. The Tale of Kieu by Nguyen Du (VIETNAM)

This is a long poem written in ancient Vietnamese. This long poem is the best and most famous classical piece of literature in Vietnam and with Vietnamese people all over the world. The main character is a young Vietnamese woman named Kieu, a newly married woman who sacrifices herself to prostitution to save her father, who was swindled by a Chinese businessman. During her torture and adversity for 15 years, Kieu becomes a strong woman and survives to become wiser and lives to be a virgin, never to have sex and intimate love with other Vietnamese or Chinese men. Legends in Vietnam and with Vietnamese people call Kieu the chaste prostitute. The epic poem vividly showed the sexual cruelty and manipulation of Chinese men as manipulative rapists on young Chinese and Vietnamese women. The long poem is 3,250 lines long and was written by the Vietnamese poet Nguyen Du in 1813.

You see what I mean? Epic poetry focusing solely on a woman is very scarce! But these two epic poems should inspire any girl or woman in the world to read them, since the authors of these masterpieces cared enough to respect women!