Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

Elisabeth M. Jeffreys and Michael J. Jeffreys. "The Traditional Style of Early Demotic Verse." Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, 5:115-39.

Studies primarily the early Demotic Greek War of Troy as an exemplar of contemporary poetic tradition (cp. M. Jeffreys 1973), arguing that it "is a transitional text between oral and literary composition. The poet has adopted a formulaic style and many of the formulas themselves form a tradition of oral poetry; at the same time he seems to have added clichés of his own and to have used all his formulas in a literate manner in making a long translation from a French manuscript." (138). A meticulous exposition that finds 35% formulaic density in the BG poem and attempts cautiously to reconcile this traditional phraseology with the almost certainly literate composition.
Area: BG, CP