Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks

Language, Alphabet, and Literacy 61
leading candidate was exiled from Athens for 10 years. The first
ostracism occurred in 487 and the last in 417. We can well imagine
that an ostracism was one of the most eagerly anticipated occasions
in the political calendar. Many Athenians no doubt used their vote
to express their displeasure with a policy that was closely associated
with one of the candidates, whereas others acted purely out
of personal spite. When a politician named Aristides, who was
nicknamed the Just, was facing the threat of ostracism, an illiterate
country bumpkin, failing to recognize him, asked him to inscribe
his potsherd with Aristides’ name upon it. When Aristides asked
him whether the politician had done him any injury, the bumpkin
replied “No. It’s simply that I’m tired of hearing him called ‘the
Just.’ ” Aristides thus fell victim to what we would call today celebrity
overexposure—a career hazard that overtook other prominent
Athenian politicians.
In addition, the Greeks utilized wooden tablets coated with wax
for messages, lists, and school exercises, as these could be used over
and over again.
LIBRARIES
The first evidence for a trade in book rolls dates to the end of
the fifth century b.c.e. A comic poet named Eupolis ( f l. 420s–412
b.c.e. ) alludes to a part of the Agora in Athens “where the rolls are
on sale.” Because rolls were copied by slaves, they were relatively
inexpensive to purchase. At his trial in 399 b.c.e. , Sokrates (Plato,
Apology 26de) allegedly inquired of his accuser, “Do you think that
the jury is so illiterate as to be unaware that the rolls of Anaxagoras
of Klazomenai [a natural philosopher] . . . are on sale in the Orchestra
[probably a part of the Agora where public performances took
place, including singing, dancing, and drama] for a drachma at
most?”
The earliest evidence for private libraries also dates to the end of
the fifth century. The comic poet Aristophanes is thought to have
possessed a substantial library because of the numerous allusions
in his plays to the tragedians. (His surviving plays contain references
to as many as 45 dramas of Euripides). Euripides, who is portrayed
as an avid reader (e.g., Aristophanes, Frogs 943, 1409), almost
certainly owned a library that contained the works of his fellow
tragedians. Even so, very few individuals are likely to have purchased
rolls. Probably the biggest library in private hands was that
of Aristotle. The Greek geographer Strabo (Geography 13.1.54), who