Chapter
1 Review of criticism: What we know about the origin of the Greek alphabet
SINGLE INTRODUCTION BY A SINGLE MAN
THE MOMENT OF TRANSMISSION63
How the alphabet was learned
Excursus: the so-called acrophonic principle
The adapter and his informant, face to fa
The shapes of the letters73
Conclusions from letter shapes
A note on the Semitic letter names
The forms of the Greek names
Excursus: "matres lectionis"
THE PROBLEM OF THE SIBILANTS
THE PROBLEM OF THE SUPPLEMENTALS ø X ψ
The nature of the problem: shapes, order, values
"Red," "blue," and "green" scripts
The supplementals belong to the earliest alphabet; the problem of the primitives
How the values of the supplementals changed in the hands of the adapter's successors
2 Argument from the history of writing: How writing worked before the Greek alphabet
ELEMENTS IN THE ART OF WRITING
The terminology and theoretical functioning of lexigraphic writing
Two divisions of phonography: syllabography and alphabetic •writing
Auxiliary marks, signs, devices
HOW LOGO-SYLLABIC WRITING WORKS: EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHIC
Lexigraphic ambiguity in Egyptian writing: a connected text of average complexity29
HOW SYLLABIC WRITING WORKS: THE CYPRIOTE SYLLABARY
The Cypriote syllabary: general description
HOW SYLLABIC WRITING WORKS: PHOENICIAN
A sample Phoenician text with exegesis
Conditions for change in writing systems
Syllabic writing used to record hexametric verse
The idiosyncratic nature of Greek alphabetic writing
3 Argument from the material remains: Greek inscriptions from the beginning to c. 650 B.C.
THE LACK OF SEMANTIC DEVICES IN EARLY GREEK WRITING
The lack of word, clause, and sentence division
"Back and forth, as the ox turns"
I. "SHORT" GREEK INSCRIPTIONS FROM THE BEGINNING TO 650 B.C.
The Euboian finds: names, parts of names, possible parts of names and simple declarations of ownership
Fragmentary inscriptions, some hexametric
II." LONG" GREEK INSCRIPTIONS FROM THE BEGINNING TO 650 B.C.
The Dipylon oinochoe inscription: its origin and nature
The Mantifdos inscription
The erastic inscriptions of Thera
4 Argument from coincidence: dating Greece's earliest poet
I. WHAT DATES DOES ARCHAEOLOGY GIVE FOR OBJECTS, PRACTICES, AND SOCIAL REALITIES MENTIONED IN HOMER?
The three- and four-horsed chariot
Helen s silver work-basket
The practice of cremation41
The prominence of Phoenicians
The lamp that Athene carries
The Gorgoneion, referred to four times
The alleged description of hoplite tactics
The practice of sending home the ashes of the dead
The procession to place a robe on a seated statue of Athene in the Trojan citadel
II. IS THERE ANYTHING ABOUT THE LANGUAGE OF THE ILIAD AND THE ODYSSEY THAT CAN BE DATED?
III. WHAT ARE THE EARLIEST OUTSIDE REFERENCES TO HOMER?
Representations possibly inspired by the Iliad
Representations possibly inspired by the Odyssey
Representations possibly inspired by the Cycle
Representations possibly inspired by other sagas
Summary and observations146
IV. HOMER'S DATE IN ANCIENT TRADITION
CONCLUSIONS: THE DATE OF HOMER
5 Conclusions from probability: how the Iliad and the Odyssey were written down
WRITING AND TRADITIONAL SONG IN HOMER'S DAY
The unprecedented scope of the Iliad and the Odyssey
Homer's audience: the Euboian connection
APPENDIX I Gelb's theory of the syllabic nature of West Semitic writing
I. J. GELB S DESCRIPTION OF EGYPTIAN PHONETIC SIGNS AS CONSISTING SOLELY OF LOGOGRAMS AND SYLLABOGRAMS
DEBATE ON THE SYLLABIC NATURE OF WEST SEMITIC WRITING
APPENDIX II Homeric references in poets of the seventh century
Homer and the Origin of the Greek Alphabet
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