Homer and the origin of the Greek alphabet
By: Barry B. Powell.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1991
Place of publication: Cambridge [England]; New York, NY, USA
Language: eng
Number of pages: 280
Subjects: Homer -- Language; Greek language -- Alphabet
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 writing-down of Homer. Beginning with a critical review of previous scholarship on the origins of the alphabet and a presentation of his own evaluation of the evidence, the author then places the Greek alphabet in its context in the history of writing. From a review of the early surviving examples of Greek alphabetic writing he draws some conclusions about what the alphabet was first used for and the social environment in which it first appeared. After a section attempting to place Homer accurately in time, the concluding chapter draws together all the strands of the inquiry and suggests an answer to the opening questions.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 254-276) and index.