Table of Contents

List of figures; Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction: building models like a wigwam; 2. Text; 3. Orality and genre; 4. Myth; 5. Literacy; 6. Tradition; 7. Memorization; 8. M. L. West and the Eastern origins of Greek tradition; 9. Cultural transmission by literate means in the Near East; 10. Writing: general; 11. Writing: semasiography and logosyllabography; 12. Writing: the Chinese enigma; 13. Oral and written in the land between the rivers; 14. Oral and written in the Valley of the Nile; 15. The West Semitic revolution; 16. The invention of the Greek alphabet and the end of multiliteralism; 17. Where does Homer fit in the alphabetic revolution?; 18. The aoidos in context; 19. Aoidic innovation in myth: stories from pots; 20. Summary and conclusions: early Greek literature in context; Bibliography; Index.