Description
Book SynopsisCovering material as diverse as curse tablets, coins, tattoos, and legal decrees, Deborah Steiner explores the reception of writing in archaic and classical Greece. She moves beyond questions concerning ancient literacy and the origins of the Greek alphabet to examine representations of writing in the myths and imaginative literature of the period.
Trade Review"This is a book fertile in ideas, richly documented, and thought provoking... Everyone will derive benefit and stimulation from this book."--Journal of Hellenic Studies "A subtle and deeply engaging narrative, and should take its place as one of the most thought-provoking of all contributions to the cultural history of Greek writing."--Times Literary Supplement
Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsAuthor's NoteIntroduction31Tokens and Texts10Two models of communication11Phrazein and anagignoskein16Inscribed semata29The Hymn to Hermes and the Seven Against Thebes402Rites of Inscription61Oath taking, treaties, and the law64Cursing71Vows and prayers75Oracles80Enshrining the text: publication and circulation86Pindaric agalmata913Impressions and Assemblages100Writing and physiology100Writing and cosmology116Writing and regulation1224The Tyranny of Writing127Two archetypes: Sesostris and Deioces128The inscribed marker: commemorative pillars, boundary stones, graves132The catalogue and inventory142The dispatch149Inscribing the body154Coins, seals, and trade159Writing in Greece166The Scythians and Spartans1745The City of Words186Speech and the agora187The writer in the countryside193The writer oligarch in the city center216Nomoi gegrammenoi227Epilogue242Bibliography253Index of Principal Passages Cited265General Index275
