This one’s been lurking in my box for a while … the Center for Hellenic Studies have put up a copy of Milman Parry’s doctoral dissertation (?) … here’s their description:
In this foundational and still critically important work, Parry offers a detailed and thorough analysis of proper name and epithet formulae. This analysis brought Parry to a stunning conclusion: the poems could not be the work of an individual poet but must be the product of a tradition. Parry’s lucid argumentation and persuasive methodology deserve and repay careful attention by all interested in Homer, ancient Greek poetics, and oral traditions.
Read it here (it opens to the preface; use the drop-down menu to get to chapters):
rogueclassicism 