literature

• bard

  a public storyteller who recited vast amounts of poetry
• oral poem

  a poem that is composed and told without writing
• epithet

  an adjectival word or phrase regularly added to a name to denote a personal or physical quality
• formula

  a section of an epic poem that is used to describe a person, place or object
• topos

  a poetic scene that occurs regularly made up of a series of standard elements
• dramatic irony

  when a character does not know the full significance of what is happening
• pathos

  sadness
• xenia


  guest friendship or hospitality
• nostos

  desire to return to your homeland
• kleros

  glorious reputation a homeric warrior hopes to win
• suppliant

  a person who begs for something from someone in authority