Lists were an ancient mode of expressing value through text, according to Athena Kirk, assistant professor in the Department of Classics. In her new book, Ancient Greek Lists: Catalogue and Inventory Across Genres (Cambridge University Press, 2021), Kirk illuminates Greek literary and epigraphic lists, catalogues, and inventories in both under-studied and well-known sources, ranging from Homer's Catalogue of Ships to temple inventories.
In a live, virtual Chats in the Stacks book talk, Kirk engages scholars and students of classical literature, ancient history, and ancient languages with examples of inscribed inventories. Kirk also analyzes the ways lists can stand in for objects, create value, act as tools of control, and even point to the infinite.
24 янв 2022
