Written texts and the rise of literate culture in ancient Greece / edited by Harvey Yunis.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Yunis, Harvey, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Greek literature--History and criticism.

Greek literature.

Written communication--Greece--History.

Written communication.

Language and culture--Greece--History.

Language and culture.

Greek language--Written Greek.

Greek language.

Transmission of texts--Greece.

Transmission of texts.

Literacy--Greece--History.

Literacy.

Greece--Civilization.

Greece.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 262 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Other Title:

Written Texts & the Rise of Literate Culture in Ancient Greece

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Why written texts? / Harvey Yunis

From letters to literature : reading the "Song culture" of classical Greece / Andrew Ford

Writing religion : inscribed texts, ritual authority, and the religious discourse of the polis / Albert Henrichs

Letters of the law : written texts in archaic Greek law / Michael Gagarin

Writing, law, and legal practice in the Athenian courts / David Cohen

Literacy and the charlatan in ancient Greek medicine / Lesley Dean-Jones

Literacy in Greek and Chinese science : some comparative issues / Geoffrey Lloyd

Writing philosophy : prose and poetry from Thales to Plato / Charles H. Kahn

Prose performance texts : Epideixis and written publication in the late fifth and early fourth centuries / Rosalind Thomas

Writing for reading : Thucydides, Plato, and the emergence of the critical reader / Harvey Yunis

Reflecting on writing and culture : Theocritus and the style of cultural change / Richard Hunter.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references (p. 235-253) and index.

ISBN:

1-107-13185-5

1-280-41520-7

0-511-06406-3

0-511-17968-5

1-139-14759-5

0-511-05773-3

0-511-30662-8

0-511-49780-6

0-511-07252-X

OCLC:

252489352