Epic catalogues and genealogies are given, called enumeratio. These long lists of objects, places, and people place the finite action of the epic within a broader, universal context, such as the catalog of ships. Often, the poet is also paying homage to the ancestors of audience members. Examples:

• In The Faerie Queene, the list of trees I.i.8–9.
• In Paradise Lost, the list of demons in Book I.
• In the Aeneid, the list of enemies the Trojans find in Etruria (Central Italy) in Book VII. Also, the list of ships in Book X.
• In the Iliad, the Catalogue of Ships, the most famous epic catalogue, and the Trojan Battle Order