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  3. Oral Tradition and Written Record in Classical Athens
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    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      03 December 2009
      09 March 1989
      ISBN:
      9780511597404
      9780521350259
      9780521425186
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511597404
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.624kg, 336 Pages
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.5kg, 336 Pages
      • Subjects:
      Ancient History, Classical Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Anthropology
      Series:
      Cambridge Studies in Oral and Literate Culture (18)
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    Subjects:
    Ancient History, Classical Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Anthropology
    Series:
    Cambridge Studies in Oral and Literate Culture (18)
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    Book description

    Despite its written literature, ancient Greece was in many ways an oral society. This is the first serious attempt to study the implications of this view. Dr Thomas stresses the coexistence of literacy and oral tradition in Greece and examines their character and interaction. Concentrating on the plentiful evidence from 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 Athens' traditions about its past and examining why they changed and disappeared. This study provides crucial insights into the methods and achievements of the Greek historians. It also has major implications for the interpretation of ancient literacy.

    Reviews

    ‘Rosalind Thomas has given us a landmark book: sinewy, provocative, closely argued, widely ranging, selectively learned and discreetly imaginative.’

    Peter Parsons Source: London Review of Books

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