I remember reading about how older stories - Odyssey, creation myths, god myths - are a different "sort" of story than we have now, and miss notable elements such as twists. Mysteries weren't a thing.

And, that this was because these stories were primary told through oral tradition, so you would hear the same stories over and over again. So stories that weren't enjoyable when you knew what would happen either didn't get told, or didn't last.

Now, we experience most stories only once, so things like twists work.

Thought that was an interesting idea, and Vonnegut's take on primitive stories reminded me of it.