Editing Chiastic structure (section)

==Mnemonic device==
[[Oral literature]] is especially rich in chiastic structure, possibly as an aid to memorization and oral performance. In [[Homer]]'s [[Iliad]] and  [[Odyssey]], for instance, [[Cedric Whitman]] finds chiastic patterns "of the most amazing virtuosity" that simultaneously perform both aesthetic and mnemonic functions, permitting the oral poet easily to recall the basic structure of the composition during performances.<ref>{{citation |first= Cedric M. |last= Whitman |title= Homer and the Heroic Tradition |place= Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher= [[Harvard University Press]] |year= 1958 |oclc= 310021 }}.</ref> Steve Reece has demonstrated several ambitious ring compositions in Homer's Odyssey and compared their aesthetic and mnemonic functions with those of several [[South Slavic languages|South Slavic]] songs.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Reece|first=Steve|title=The Three Circuits of the Suitors: A Ring Composition in Odyssey 17-22|url=https://www.academia.edu/30641105|journal=Oral Tradition 
|volume=10 | issue=1 |year=1995|pages= 207–229}}</ref>