Iliad an Example of Oral

Iliad

An example of oral poetic techniques: "The Iliad" Book

Because to modern eyes, Homer's "Iliad" has been passed down to contemporary audience as a book that is seemingly 'written' and of a seamless and unified authorship, apparently composed at a fixed point in time, it is easy to forget that the poetic epic work "Iliad" was once transmitted to its audience as a work of oral poetry. It was a cultural myth as well as a text, and it changed and evolved in its telling, as well as deployed certain stock phrases, scenes, and characters to enable the original narrators to remember what transpired over the course of the epic poetic narrative.

The evidence of oral nature of the original form of the "Iliad "can be seen through Homer's frequent us of repeated lines and parts of lines. This is perhaps most evident in the ever-present use of formulaic phrases or tags lines to identify particular characters, as a way to highlight to Homer's listening public which person was speaking or acting. For example, in Book 7, when Athena makes her entrance into battle, she is called the daughter of the great Zeus, and her half- brother Apollo is called the son of Zeus. The reference to Zeus is a frequent label for the goddess throughout the text. Unlike in a modern novel, it is not particularly significant Athena is called the daughter of Zeus at this point in the narrative.

This tag line is not a unique name for Athena in this particular section of the work nor is the other tag lines of the other characters, mortals and gods. Hector is always great Hector, as Achilles is identified by his lineage. These tag lines are simply ways of highlighting, in a different way the character who is acting in the narrative, as well as perhaps, less significantly, relating the actors to previous events in their heritage that may not have been spoken by the poet, but are still part of a common cultural understanding and narrative as to what the story is about. After all, to Homer's audience, there was no need to begin at the beginning for the story of the sacking of Troy -- everyone knew how it would begin and end, rather the excitement lay in the telling and the familiarity of the characters and the tale, rather than any potential surprises that lay in store.

Thus repetition of characters, character epithets or tags, and events are key to oral poetry, as oral poetry usually relates familiar cultural myths. Repetition in Homer's "Iliad" is not simply evident in the poet's use of taglines to delineate his characters. For example when one hero responds to another, the poet usually uses a set phrase, such as 'then in answer again he spoke.' This is not evidence of Homer's lack of creativity. Rather, repetition is part of the nature of oral poetry, and a necessary mnemonic device for the poet and his audience. To distinguish by the ear, for example, Ajax from Achilles, by using the same label or tag line the oral poet was able to make clear to the room of assembled guests, many of whom might be drinking wine or eating while the poet spoke, which warrior was in action during the tale. The use of set phrases also brought structure to the work, enabling the author to remember what was transpiring through the use of familiar words that would be easy to remember. Also, as the entire audience knew the parentage of the various protagonists, and what would happen to them, and what had happened to them before the tale begin; the repetition also affirmed that both poet and audience were a part of the same tradition.