Hide browse bar Your current position in the text is marked in blue. Click anywhere in the line to jump to another position:
chapter:
chapter 1-16chapter 1chapter 2chapter 3chapter 4chapter 5chapter 6chapter 7chapter 8chapter 9chapter 10chapter 11chapter 12chapter 13chapter 15chapter 16chapter 17-22chapter 17chapter 18chapter 20chapter 21chapter 22chapter 23-27chapter 23chapter 24chapter 25chapter 26chapter 27chapter 28-38chapter 28chapter 29chapter 30chapter 31chapter 32chapter 33chapter 34chapter 35chapter 36chapter 37chapter 38chapter 39-48chapter 39chapter 40chapter 41chapter 42chapter 43chapter 44chapter 45chapter 46chapter 47chapter 48chapter 49-54chapter 49chapter 50chapter 51chapter 52chapter 53chapter 54chapter 55-96chapter 55chapter 56chapter 57chapter 58chapter 59chapter 60chapter 61chapter 62-5chapter 62chapter 63chapter 64chapter 65chapter 66-9chapter 66chapter 67chapter 68chapter 69chapter 70-6chapter 70chapter 71chapter 72chapter 73chapter 74chapter 75chapter 76chapter 77-8chapter 77chapter 78chapter 79-89chapter 79chapter 80chapter 81chapter 82chapter 83chapter 85chapter 86chapter 87chapter 88chapter 89chapter 90-3chapter 90chapter 91chapter 92chapter 92Achapter 92Bchapter 92Cchapter 92Echapter 92Fchapter 92Gchapter 93chapter 94-6chapter 94chapter 95chapter 97-102chapter 97chapter 98chapter 99chapter 100chapter 101chapter 102chapter 103-7chapter 103chapter 104chapter 105chapter 106chapter 108-15chapter 108chapter 109chapter 110chapter 111chapter 112chapter 113chapter 114chapter 115chapter 116-23chapter 116chapter 117chapter 118-21chapter 118chapter 119chapter 121chapter 122chapter 123chapter 124-6chapter 125chapter 126
This text is part of:
γράμματα. H.'s theory that the Greek alphabet, as he knew it, was of Phoenician origin is borne out by comparing the forms, names, and order of the early Greek and Phoenician letters (Roberts, Greek Epigraphy, § 4 f.). It contrasts favourably with the ascription of the invention to mythical heroes, such as Palamedes (Stesichorus), Prometheus (Aesch. P. V. 460 f.), Musaeus, Orpheus, or Linus. Of course H. Knew nothing of the primitive Cretan and Mycenaean scripts (A. J. Evans, J. H. S. xiv, xvii, and Scripta Minoa), which being earlier must probably have contributed to the formation of the Phoenician alphabet. His connexion of the earliest Greek alphabet with Cadmus and Boeotia is simply a part of his theory of Phoenician settlement, as is the hypothesis that it spread first among Ionians. H. has not the learning to distinguish the alphabets of Eastern and of Western Hellas, or to recognize that the Ionic alphabet in its final form is a late development of the former. ῥυθμόν = σχῆμα, shape. Cf. Ar. Metaph. i. 4. 985 b ῥυθμὸς σχῆμά ἐστιν—διαφέρει γὰρ τὸ μὲν Α τοῦ Ν σχήματι. So below, μεταρρυθμίσαντες, ‘changing the shape’. H. seems unaware of the three most important modifications: (1) The utilization of some Phoenician consonants, aleph, he, yod, ayin, to represent the vowels a, e, i, o, with the subsequent addition of u, ē, and ō (Roberts, § 5). (2) The evolution of double letters, the three new ones being ph, ch, ps (Roberts, §§ 9, 11). (3) The disappearance of certain unnecessary sibilants (Roberts, § 6). H. does, however, record the survival of San alongside of Sigma (cf. i. 139 n.). Clearly his interest is more in the form than in the sound of the letters. Yet though he records (ii. 36. 4 n.) that Egyptian writing went from right to left, he is clearly unaware that the same is true of the Phoenician, and of the earliest Greek inscriptions (Roberts, § 4, No. 1), nor does he notice the transitional βουστροφηδόν style (cf. Paus. v. 17. 6; Roberts, No. 42. 133 f.).
The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.
Purchase a copy of this text (not necessarily the same edition) from Amazon.com
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.