 Some academics believe that writing first came to Greece from the east, via traders, and these older poems were used to demonstrate the uses of writing, thus heavily influencing early Greek literature.Another opinion is that Homer was heir to an unbroken tradition of oral epic poetry reaching back some 500 years into Mycenaean times.The case is set out in "The Singer of Tales" by Albert B. Lord, citing earlier work by folklorist and mythographer Milman Parry.