Description

Aus der Bibliothek von Prof. Wolfgang Haase, langj�igem Herausgeber der ANRW und des International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT) / From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT). - altersgem�sehr guter Zustand / very good condition for age - It is increasingly recognized that, despite its written literature, ancient Greece was in many ways an oral society. This is the first major attempt to study the implications. Dr Thomas stresses the coexistence of literacy and oral tradition in Greece and examines their interaction. Concentrating on the plentiful evidence of Classical Athens, she shows how the use of writing developed only gradually and under the influence of the previous oral communication. Drawing on anthropological discussion, the author isolates different types of Athenian oral tradition, building up a picture of Athenian traditions about its past and why they changed and disappeared. She tries to understand not only the nature of individual traditions, but the mechanisms of oral tradition and memory in general; then the possible effect of writing on oral tradition. This study provides crucial insights into the methods and achievements of the Greek historians and therefore into the very material of Greek history. -- Apart from its relevance to the work of ancient historians, this book contributes to the wider debate about the nature of literacy and the relation between literacy and oral communication, and anthropologists and sociologists also will find it of particular interest. ISBN 9780521350259