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,...
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.
Generic scenes are perhaps the most striking (some would say dull) marker of an oral tradition. When a warrior falls in battle, Homer often makes reference to the warrior falling, and to the warrior's parentage. These scenes of battle can to a modern reader seem repetitive to the point of dullness, but this repetition was necessary so that the poet could remember what would come next -- and the audience may have found comfort in this familiarity, much as one finds comfort in the refrain of a familiar song.
