Modus Operandi - The Ways of Greek Literature Kristen Roggemann

Story-telling and presentation are two literary techniques vital to the development of plot and theme, systematic traditions meant to illustrate the idea of the author in terms of the medium of the narrative. Epic, poetry, and drama all utilize these techniques within their respective genres, but the interpretations of their strategies differ highly, as well as the techniques themselves - story-telling usually propels the development of a character or an essential plot, whereas presentation is used in a variety of ways to establish characteristics or themes within the narrative of the story. These devices are all illustrated in a assortment of ways within epic, poetry, and drama, yet the general similarity of their applications establishes a coherence among the three forms that solidifies story-telling and presentation as two essential characteristics of the respective art forms.

The Iliad and The Odyssey, Homer's epic poems that describe well-known legends surrounding the Trojan War, employ story-telling and presentation differently within their genre to create a diversion between the structure of the texts that yields a richer definition of the two literary devices. The Iliad contains a more basic utilization of both...