Tradition
"I'm using the term Modern in the sense of relating to the present or recent times as opposed to the remote past"
Rituals and traditions have been features of literature at least as far back as Homer' funeral games in The Iliad.
Peter A Bucknell's 'Entertainment and Ritual' is confined to the period between 600 to 1600, but he constantly refers back to the Romans and the Greeks - in fact, as far back as known history
The King's horses and men are never around when you need them!
Jim Carroll