 In this process extempore composition is aided by use of stock phrases or "formulas" (expressions that are used regularly "under the same metrical conditions, to express a particular essential idea").In the case of the work of Homer, formulas included "eos rhododaktylos" ("rosy fingered dawn") and "oinops pontos" ("winedark sea") which fit in a modular fashion into the poetic form (in this case six-colon Greek hexameter).Since the development of this theory, of Oral-formulaic composition has been "found in many different time periods and many different cultures", and according to another source (John Miles Foley) "touch[ed] on" over 100 "ancient, medieval and modern traditions."