Abstract
Classical scholars have known for quite some time that dawn in the Homeric epics is as often as not rose-fingered, the sea wine-colored and Athena bright-eyed. Similarly, in the Russian byliny, a horse is good and a field open about 95 times out of 100. The problem of fixed epithets and loci communes has preoccupied Slavic scholars for close to a century (cf. Uxov, 1957; 1958), but it remained for Parry (1930, 1932), to advance the notion that a heavy reliance on formulae or stock expressions is a prime characteristic of oral literatures. Parry's student, Lord (1964), extended and amplified this position, emphasizing that formulae can embrace much larger units of text than the fixed nounepithet combinations first noted in Homer. Despite this and other restatements of the precise nature of formulae and of their role in the creative process, Parry's basic hypothesis has never been seriously challenged by conclusive
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
