Ancient Greek poets were also unique because they were the first large group to commit their poetry to writing; prior civilizations preferred the oral tradition, though some written poems date back to the 25th century B.C. (Hadas, 2013).
Greece’s poetic movement was part of the greatest cultural and scholarly community in world history. Poets were often a writer of drama who wrote for choirs or courtly muses who entertained regional kings. Hundreds of dramas were performed, each of them showcasing admirable lyric poetry within its three-act structure.(Brockett & Franklin, 2003).The Greeks developed nearly all of the classic forms that formed the foundation of later literature, drama, music and poetry, including the ode, epic, lyric, tragedy, and comedy. Among the great poets who passed developing forms to succeeding generations was Homer.
Homer - The Iliad …show more content…
The entire poem has a formal rhythm that is consistent throughout (making it easier to cram) and yet varied slightly from line to line (preventing it from being humdrum). Many phrases, sometimes whole passages, are repeated verbatim over and over again throughout “The Iliad”, partly to fulfill the demands of the meter and partly as part of the conventional oral tradition. In the same way, many of the expressive phrases that are linked with a certain character (such as "swift-footed Achilles", "Diomedes of the great war cry", "Hector of the shining helm", and "Agamemnon the lord of men") match the number of syllables in a hero's name, and are repeated regularly to the extent that they almost seem to become part of the characters' names themselves. (Grube,