Written Txt Rise Lit Clt Anc Greece
Cambridge University Press, 8/21/2008
EAN 9780521039154, ISBN10: 0521039150
Paperback, 276 pages, 22.5 x 15 x 1.6 cm
Language: English
From the sixth through the fourth centuries BCE, the landmark developments of Greek culture and the critical works of Greek thought and literature were accompanied by an explosive growth in the use of written texts. By the close of the classical period, a new culture of literacy and textuality had come into existence alongside the traditional practices of live oral discourse. New avenues for human activity and creativity arose in this period. The very creation of the 'classical' and the perennial use of Greece by later European civilizations as a source of knowledge and inspiration would not have taken place without the textual innovations of the classical period. This book considers how writing, reading and disseminating texts led to new ways of thinking and new forms of expression and behaviour. The individual chapters cover a range of phenomena, including poetry, science, religions, philosophy, history, law and learning.
Preface
Contributors
Introduction
why written texts? Harvey Yunis
1. From letters to literature
reading the 'song culture' of classical Greece Andrew Ford
2. Writing religion
inscribed texts, ritual authority and the religious discourse of the Polis Albert Henrichs
3. Letters of the law
written texts in archaic Greek law Michael Gagarin
4. Writing, law and legal practice in the Athenian courts David Cohen
5. Literacy and the charlatan in ancient Greek medicine Lesley Dean-Jones
6. Literacy in Greek and Chinese science
some comparative issues Geoffrey Lloyd
7. Writing philosophy
prose and poetry from Thales to Plato Charles H. Kahn
8. Prose performance texts
Epideixis and written publication in the late fifth and early fourth centuries Rosalind Thomas
9. Writing for reading
Thucydides, Plato and the emergence of the critical reader Harvey Yunis
10. Reflecting on writing and culture
Theocritus and the style of cultural change Richard Hunter
Bibliography
Index.