Odyssey, part 2: the use of oral formulae

Difference between Iliad and Odyssey continued: the latter is about life and praises mortality; the former about death and laments it.  Odysseus's preference for the mortal Penelope over Kalypso.  Different views of hospitality as necessary, in the Iliad, and as life-affirming, in the Odyssey.  Observations about the structure of oral verse, with respect to the research of Milman Parry.  Formulae and multi-tasking.  The connections they make possible: echoes and repetitions between different characters.  Those connections compared to similes where characters are compared to their complements, not their parallels.