Check out some Greek Art at the Web Sites provided in the packet, or find some in your local library. One of the things that needs to be emphasized is the epic. The epic is a poetical form which has a specific set of characteristics and conventions.
Oral epics stem from the oral traditions of a particular culture.
They are stories that are memorized and told and retold. They are not written down. This is the case with The Iliad and The Odyssey . They come from the oral traditions of the Greeks. We attribute them to Homer because it is believed that he was the one who eventually put them in writing.