Not to mention the fact that oral transmission never stopped[1][2]. But I think the point isn't that they didn't believe there were epic poems being recited fro

Not to mention the fact that oral transmission never stopped[1][2]. But I think the point isn't that they didn't believe there were epic poems being recited from memory, only that this particular epic, the Iliad and Odyssey, was in doubt. Whether it was a single (or dual) oral epic, or it was a compilation of other poems that didn't come together until after it was written down. If there was indeed someone spreading a myth that ancient people weren't smart enough to recite a poem like the Iliad, I doubt it was said in an academic context and was instead ideology. An arrogance akin to the oft repeated claim that people once thought the world was flat. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2Inv_zv6xQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2Inv_zv6xQ [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCEglqZmQZc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCEglqZmQZc