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Editorial Reviews
Book Description
The purpose of this challenging book is to inquire systematically into the historical causes that underlay the radical shift from earlier and less efficient writing systems to the use of alphabetic writing. In brief: What caused the invention of the Greek alphabet? Who did it, and why? The author declares his conclusion to be a possibly surprising one--that a single man, perhaps from the island of Euboea, invented the Greek alphabet specifically in order to record the Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer. The predominant view among scholars is that the Greek alphabet was invented for mundane purposes, such as the keeping of business accounts, and was only subsequently applied to the recording of literary documents. Others have advocated that the alphabet was invented to record literature, but this book is the first to connect the invention of the alphabet with the recording of Homer.
Review
' ... this is a book which is as remarkable for the ingenuity of its answers to difficult questions as it is for its useful review and compelling display of so much of the relevant evidence.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review
'[This] is an important book, and will be widely read by students of writing in other cultures as well as by Homerists, linguists, historians and archaeologists of early Greece.' Classical Philology
See all Editorial Reviews
The purpose of this challenging book is to inquire systematically into the historical causes that underlay the radical shift from earlier and less efficient writing systems to the use of alphabetic writing. In brief: What caused the invention of the Greek alphabet? Who did it, and why? The author declares his conclusion to be a possibly surprising one--that a single man, perhaps from the island of Euboea, invented the Greek alphabet specifically in order to record the Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer. The predominant view among scholars is that the Greek alphabet was invented for mundane purposes, such as the keeping of business accounts, and was only subsequently applied to the recording of literary documents. Others have advocated that the alphabet was invented to record literature, but this book is the first to connect the invention of the alphabet with the recording of Homer.
Review
' ... this is a book which is as remarkable for the ingenuity of its answers to difficult questions as it is for its useful review and compelling display of so much of the relevant evidence.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review
'[This] is an important book, and will be widely read by students of writing in other cultures as well as by Homerists, linguists, historians and archaeologists of early Greece.' Classical Philology
See all Editorial Reviews
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Inside This Book Citations: This book cites 69 books | 72 books that cite this book Explore: Citations | Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Key Phrases - SIPs: epichoric varieties, sidelong alpha, oinochoe inscription, prosodic marks, adjective sign (more) |