2. classical literacy

functions of written language were in graphic forms

• informal - between individuals

• conventional - professional codes

• memorial writing -

• performative discourse

the design of letters was defined as

• a sequence of expressive gestures

• a set of shapes or constructed materials to be copied

  • these two approaches would diverge in subsequent centuries

when the alphabet arrived in ancient greece, earlier writing systems had fallen out of use. but their legacy had established the value of written communication.

• for example, the dipylon vase. - with some letters resembling those of the original phoenician alphabet.

gortyna

• gortyna inscription, 638 bce

  • ancient greek town of crete.

  • this inscription is nearly 8 feet high and twelve columns wide and was found in the wall of a public theater in crete

  • the letter forms are very neat.

  • each line changes direction, winding first right to left, then left to right, then right to left again. early boustrophedon format.

  • the inscription defines the state’s ability to regulate the affairs of its citizens

  • the text was associated with king minos

variations of literacy and alphabet

• variants of the alphabet were used in greece and south italy in the classical period

• all were derived from scripts in the ancient near east and dispersed by phoenicians along their trade routs in the mediterannian

• by the 8th century, this alphabet had taken hold of the greeks

• in greece, the new writing system was linked to democracy.

• military conquests took the roman alphabet into new territories

• scribes were employed by the state and divided into clearly defined professional classes

  • they used stylus and tablets or papyrus and parchment. the tablet could be warmed and smoothed for repeated use.

• decree on marble stele describing procedures for trebue

  • formal inscription outlines procedures to be followed in case of a dispute over the payment of tribute money to the city of athens

    • it communicates the power of one city state over the population of another

    • letters are carefully arranged with both vertical and horizontal columns, maintained in a style known as stoichedon.

    • the strict graphic organization it describes seem well suited to the imposition of rule among warring city states.

    • letters are written from left to right to prevent smearing

  • rules for reading direction and word spacing were not fixed yet

  • the oldest greek inscriptions used letters that were very close in shape to their phoenician sources.

    • these scripts had only majuscules.

• increase of literacy in greece and rome were also attributed to changes in assumption about the place of writing in politics and business life. reading and writing were no longer limited to scribes.

• literacy training inculcated pupils with cultural and social codes.

the function of graphic codes.

• long before the alphabet was important, writing included a range of social functions and a set of visual forms.

• material conditions, the occasions and functions determined the style of scripts

• tablet and scrolls remained the basic portable media.

• classical greek and roman writing had serifs. they chiseled these by hand.

• graphic codes distinguished broad categories of written language from each other.

  • cursive - gestural and informal - made with pen or brush on papyrus or scratched into a wall, wax tablet, or other readily available material

  • ostraca - bits of discarded pottery, often served as scratch paper

    • defixiones were magic spells written on small sheets of lead paper that were rolled up and buried to hold their power

  • inscriptions were on coins.

• writing in the classical period could have the power or command of decree, such acts of writing remained a feature of civic life throughout the middle ages and into the renaissance.

• formal lettering was chosen for marble inscription.

• roman culture was highly literate, streets were filled with signs of advertisements and inscriptions. wax tablets were used to educate young scholars. both men and women wrote. tombstones often depicted the dead with a wax tablet hinged to protect their soft surface.

trajan’s column

• the text commemorates trajan’s victories and it’s monumental significance is strengthened by the scale of the letters. the power of the emperor and state of rome became aligned with the grandeur of the script.

• the formal capitals inscribed on the base of trajan’s column have been long considered the pinnacle of roman letter design.

writing at the end of the classical age

• the overthrow of rome in 410 marked the end of the classical period. classical literacy became increasingly absorbed into church institutions and practice.

• by the fourth century, monostatic orders became the main institutions for the production and preservation of knowledge in western culture. their scripts looked like shit. they’re messy.