How did the epics survive the ages

The Epic Cycle was a collection of Ancient Greek epic poems, composed in dactylic hexameter ... Unlike the Iliad and the Odyssey, the cyclic epics survive only in fragments and summaries from Late Antiquity and the Byzantine period. ... developed during the Greek Dark Age, which was based in part on localised hero cults.

The three most important decisions that allowed Odysseus to survive the different threats that fate put in his way during the Iliad and the Odyssey were When he faced the cyclops Polyphemus, son of Poseidon, whom he decided to cunningly face, getting him drunk with wine and then leaving him blind so he could escape from the island where he and his men were trapped by him. When he ordered his men to tie him to a ship's mast and cover his ears, in order to hear the sirens' song but preventing his subordinates from going crazy and crashing the ship against the rocky islands where the sirens were singing.  When he decided, with the help of god Hermes, to confront Circe, who had turned his men into animals, so that they return to their human state and thus be able to leave the island of Eea.

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