Speaking Objects and the Early Greek Conception of Writing
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9664010 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Teddy Fassberg (0000-0002-3729-9371, Tel Aviv University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 73 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 1-16 |
| Publication date | 2023-05-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Classical Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0009-8388 • E-ISSN: 1471-6844 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0009838823000459 |
| OpenAlex | W4389048431 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 8 |
One of the most remarkable features of the language of early Greek writing is a pervasive rhetorical strategy which consists in personifying objects for the purpose of identifying humans closely associated with them. Such ‘speaking objects’ have no Semitic parallel; how, then, is their conventional status in the Archaic Age to be explained? This article first considers the formulaic language of speaking objects, which is no straightforward transcription of speech, and seeks to explain where it comes from. It then turns to the question of why writers employed the curious strategy of personification by setting it in the broader context of early Greek writing and literature. Variously analogous to herms, slaves and skytalai , speaking objects are shown to have been conceived as messengers acting on behalf of their senders by not speaking in their name
Art · Context (archaeology · Linguistics · Literature · Rhetorical question · Semitic languages · Transcription (linguistics · Classical Antiquity Studies · Historical and Linguistic Studies · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |