A-Z: General definitions
- Obeah
- Oberon
- Objective correlative
- Objectivity
- Oblate
- Oblation
- Obscene
- Obsolete
- Occult
- Oceanids
- Oceanus
- Octave
- Octet
- Ode
- Odysseus
- Odysseus and Circe
- Odysseus and Scylla and Charybdis
- Odysseus and the Cyclops Polyphemus
- Odysseus and the Sirens
- Odyssey
- Oedipus
- Oedipus complex
- Oedipus Rex
- Oenomaus
- Oenon
- Offensive
- Offering
- Oil
- Old Covenant
- Old English
- Old Lady Day
- Old Latin
- Old Testament
- Oligarchy
- Olive tree
- Oliver Cromwell
- Olympian
- Olympian gods
- Olympus
- Omen
- Omnipotent
- Omnipresence
- Omniscience
- Omniscient Narrator
- One thing is needful
- Onesimus
- Onomatopoeia
- Opera
- Oracle
- Oral Literature
A-Z: General definitions: Oral Literature
Definition
The earliest forms of most world literatures were oral, or spoken, before they came to be written. The transmission of texts was often through individual persons who memorised them exactly. The Greek epic writer Homer is often held to be the best example of such a person.
A major poem or fiction depicting events of significance in the history of a civilisation.
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