How to End an Orally-Derived Epic Poem

This article argues that the extant works of early Greek hexameter poetry reveal a consistent strategy of closure, one that is based around the manipulation of doublet structure. The discussion begins by examining this well-known compositional technique, specifically the 'increasing' doublet (ID) where a smaller element is placed directly before a larger one, and it aims to demonstrate the widespread distribution and variety of these doublets, as well as their common function: to encourage the audience to summon their memory of the first element, and so augment the importance of the current, larger one. Attention is then turned to the endings themselves, in order, of the Iliad, Odyssey, Works and Days, Theogony and Shield of Herakles. Employing the same type of retrospective aesthetic, the poets use a 'decreasing' doublet (DD) to emphasize the greater significance of the prior, larger element. By directing the audience to this disparity in scale, the poets discourage them from expecting continuation, and so signal the close of their texts.