How Do We Know That Epic Poems Were Recited from Memory?
This is how the books of the Odyssey are structured:TROY----1. Kikones (innocent city is ambushed)2. Lotus Eaters (temptation, delay)3. Cyclops (monster)4. Aeolus (greedy crew delays journey)5. Laestrygonians (monster)6. Circe (temptation)7. HADES8. Sirens (temptation)9. Scylla (monster)10. Cattle/Sun (greedy crew delays journey)11. Charybdis (monster)12. Calypso (temptation, delay)13. Phaecia (innocent city is ambushed)----ITHACAThe episodes make a perfect reflection across the Hades episode; Circe and Sirens are both forms of temptation, Scylla and Laestrygonians are both monsters, etc. Also notice the smaller reflections inside of this large one: Scylla and Charybdis are similar monsters in the same way that the Cyclops is similar to the Laestrygonians.It's perhaps easier to remember a number like 12140904121 than it is to remember a series of random digits.