What is the difference between the Cid and typical Greek epic poetry?El Cantar de Mio Cid, or The Lay of the Cid

The most distinguishing differences between the epic poem
El Cantar de Mio Cid (or The Lay of the Cid )
and classic Greek epics are the date of composition, identity of the heroes and the
versification. It is generally agreed by scholars that Mio Cid was
taken down as a dictation from an orally performed poem. The oral poem has been dated by
Ramón Menéndez Pidal as circa 1140 A.D. with an anonymous authorship. Greek epics, on
the other hand, such as the most famous two, Iliad and
Odyssey, are dated from much earlier circa 800 to 600
B.C.

It is well known that El Cid, the hero of
Mio Cid was a real historical person and that he was exiled, did
have mighty adventures and was recalled to the court of King Alfonso--who trembled from
a crushing military defeat--from whose court El Cid (El Cid is the equivalent of English
Sir) was exiled. On the other hand, Greek epic tales, which are
filled with gods and demigods, are based on heroes from such dim recesses of time that
they are generally considered to be mythical figures, although Robin Lane Fox in
Pagans and Christians contests this
point.

The versification techniques of Mio
Cid in the original language of Medieval Spanish has the element of
final-word assonance, which means that while rhyme isn't used, the vowels of the last
words have assonance, or a matching sound, as in the second laisses ending with the
words: riendas; diestra, siniestra, cabenza, destierran, and
Castiella. The stanzaic structure is that of the laisses, a structured that
appears to have been borrowed from French epics. The Medieval Spanish epic form is not a
metered form. Instead of meter, each line has a strong hemistich, which is Medieval
English epics is called the caesura, that is a pause in the midst
of a line, which is preceded by four syllables and followed by six syllables ( / / / /
-- / / / / / / ).

In Mio Cid, there
are 152 laisses, each with assonance. One of the most striking features is the
irregularity of the lines with some long and come very short, such as "y aún
además   los ojos de las caras. / ... / mas el Criador os guarde   con todas sus
virtudes santas." Although, P. T. Harvey and A. D. Deyermond theorize that if
sung, then the lines of Mio Cid become regular due to the rhythmic
requirements of song.

On the other hand, versification
features of Greek epics are based on the linguistic principle of
duration--a feature that English does not possess--wherein some
vowels are held for more beats than other vowels; in other words, some are held for a
longer length of time than others. Greek epics do not use rhyme but does use
alliteration (the repetition of beginning consonant sounds, e.g., Bert's bouncing bunny
boinged) and assonance (repetition of vowel sounds), although the assonance is not
final-word specific as in Medieval Spanish epic
versification.

Greek epics are a metered form of poetry.
The epic meter is dactylic hexameter with a pattern of  / ^ ^ for six meters:  / ^ ^ / ^
^ / ^ ^ / ^ ^ / ^ ^ / ^ ^ . Unlike English, the rhythmic pattern isn't tied to syllabic
stress (e.g., ap/ ri^ cot^) but rather to vowel duration as
defined above--a linguistic feature not present in English--therefore the dactylic
pattern in the Greek epic is a long vowel syllable followed by two short vowel
syllables, which have duration, or length in time.