Writing and the Origins of Greek Literature

Examines the contribution of the alphabetic revolution to the genesis of archaic Greek literature.

Barry B. Powell (Author)

9780521782067, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 5 December 2002

228 pages, 56 b/w illus. 1 map
23.4 x 15.6 x 1.4 cm, 0.5 kg

' … a powerful and original book …' Ancient West & East

Professor Powell ties the origin and nature of archaic Greek literature to the special technology of Greek alphabetic writing. In building his model he presents chapters on specialized topics - text, orality, myth, literacy, tradition and memorization - and then shows how such special topics relate to larger issues of cultural transmission from East to West. Several chapters are devoted to the theory and history of writing, its definition and general nature as well as such individual developments as semasiography and logosyllabography, Chinese writing and the West Semitic family of syllabaries. He shows how the Greek alphabet put an end to the multiliteralism of Eastern traditions of writing, and how the recording of Homer and other early epic poetry cannot be separated from the alphabetic revolution. Finally, he explains how the creation of Greek alphabetic texts demoticized Greek myth and encouraged many free creations of new myths based on Eastern images.

List of figures
Preface
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction: building models like a wigwam
2. Text
3. Orality and genre
4. Myth
5. Literacy
6. Tradition
7. Memorization
8. M. L. West and the Eastern origins of Greek tradition
9. Cultural transmission by literate means in the Near East
10. Writing: general
11. Writing: semasiography and logosyllabography
12. Writing: the Chinese enigma
13. Oral and written in the land between the rivers
14. Oral and written in the Valley of the Nile
15. The West Semitic revolution
16. The invention of the Greek alphabet and the end of multiliteralism
17. Where does Homer fit in the alphabetic revolution?
18. The aoidos in context
19. Aoidic innovation in myth: stories from pots
20. Summary and conclusions: early Greek literature in context
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB], Historical & comparative linguistics [CFF]