Written Texts and the Rise of Literate Culture in Ancient Greece Edited by Harvey Yunis

From the sixth through the fourth centuries B.C.E, 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 cook considers how writing, reading, and disseminating texts led to new ways of thinking and new forms of expression and behavior. The individual chapters cover a range of phenomena, including poetry, science, religion, philosophy, history, law and learning. Harvey Yunis is professor of classical at Rice University. A Humboldt fellow and fellow of the Center of Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C., he is the author of Demosthenes: on the Crown and served as the editor of Rhetorica.