Between Orality and Literacy: Communication and Adaptation in Antiquity

Ruth Scodel (PhD, Harvard 1978) is D. R. Shackleton Bailey Collegiate Professor of Greek and Latin at the University of Michigan. Her many publications on Greek literature emphasize Homer and tragedy, including Greek Tragedy: an Introduction for Students (2010).

• ContentsPrefaceNotes on ContributorsIntroductionRuth ScodelControlling the Web: Hypertextuality, the Iliad, and the Crimes of Previous GenerationsJames O’MaleyOmens and Messages in the Iliad and Odyssey: A Study in TransmissionJonathan L. ReadyProphetic HesiodRuth ScodelΛάβε τὸ βυβλίον: Orality and Literacy in AristophanesCarl Anderson and Keith DixBoreas and Oreithyia: A Case-Study in Multichannel Transmission of MythMargalit FinkelbergThe Poet and the Painter: A Hymn to Zeus on a Cup by the Brygos PainterJasper GauntStory Time at the Library: Palaephatus and the Emergence of Highly Literate MythologyGreta HawesOrality in Philosophical EpistlesMathilde Cambron-GouletLook and Listen: History Performed and InscribedRachel Zelnick-AbramovitzSpoken Prayers and Written Instructions in the Central Italian Cultural Koinê and BeyondJay FisherOral Textuality as a Language of Exclusive Communication in Terence’s ProloguesSophia PapaioannouSimile Structure in Homeric Epic and Vergil’s AeneidDeborah BeckPoet, Audience, Time, and Text: Reflections on Medium and Mode in Homer and VirgilElizabeth MinchinSpeaking Verse to Power: Circulation of Oral and Written Critique in the Lives of the CaesarsNiall SlaterThe Book of Revelation: A Written Text Towards the Oral PerformanceLourdes García UreñaThe End of Orality: Transmission of Gospel Tradition in the Second and Third Centuries S.D. CharlesworthTransmitting Legal Knowledge: From Question-and-Answer Format to Handbook in Gaius’InstitutesMatthijs WibierIndex

"It is a rich collection, offering a wealth of material for thought. Many of the contributions present sources not often studied from the point of view of orality and literacy, and most of them underline that the ways of communication in antiquity were multifarious." Minna Skafte Jensen, Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2015.02.41.