Alpha to Omega: The Life and Times of the Greek Alphabet

by Alexander Humez, Nicholas Humez

A letter-by-letter look at the Greek alphabet portrays diverse aspects of ancient Greek culture and identifies its contribution to modern English

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Language

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 2 out of 5]

The subtitle of this book misleads. This is no real history of the ancient Greek alphabet. It is a series of chapters following the classical alphabet and spinning off yarns regarding words and concepts beginning with the respective characters and trailing off, almost by free association, to other topics of some relevance (usually, but not always) to classical Greek history and culture. The writing style is cute, the stories often intentionally funny, but there is little rhyme of reason to the whole.

[Joyce]

Admittedly eccentric but gentlemanly stroll through the Greek alphabet, courtesy of a few well-chosen illustrative examples beginning with each letter. For instance the letter "Rho" might be usefully discussed by means of the terms "rhetoric", "rhythm", "rhyme", and "rhotacism".

Along the way, the reader can't help learning a bit about how the Greeks borrowed their writing systems from Phoenician and ultimately Sanskrit, with a detour thru Linear A and Linear B -- and how classical Greek was in turn borrowed from by Etruscan, Latin, and a host of others including English. Of course the short essays can't help touching on examples from Greek daily life, such as the status of women, of actors, and of wine.

Very high grade bathroom reading, written with considerable tongue-in-cheek charm (as when the authors refer to Pythagoras's ashram).

[Jamie Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like words, their etymologies and eccentricities, this is a fine, fun book. Always entertaining, and written for the general reader as opposed to the professional linguist, there are interesting words on every page. It is also a gentle introduction to ancient Greek history and culture, as well as a brief look at the development and transmission of the concept of an alphabet based on individual sounds and its dissemination from the Phoenicians, to the Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans.

The authors almost seem to be playing a word association game, where one thing reminds them of another, then another, then another, and soon the reader is presented with obscure facts about science, or cooking, or politics, or, well – it could be just about anything. Part of the fun is following the linguistic connections as words move through times, cultures, and different lands.

Each chapter follows the same process but stands alone, so there is no need to start with alpha and work your way through to omega. In fact, there is no reason to start at the beginning of any chapter. This is the kind of book that you could literally open to a random page and jump in. Lots of fun, and some worthwhile things to learn in this word-romp of a book.

[Nilendu Misra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book written almost 40 years ago that I was lucky to pick up used this weekend and read end to end to learn esoteric things like why most people write left-to-write, or right-to-left, or top-to-bottom - but NEVER bottom-to-top. Hint: think of Ox plowing! Also, it left me with totally unanswerable questions to think while driving alone - why did Greeks only borrow 16 alphabets from Phoenicians and not the rest 10! Inscrutable, giggly and deep in a superficial way. Loved it. Buying rest of this author duo’s books!

[Andres · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lively tour of the Greek alphabet, one letter at a time.

Each chapter provides the authors a chance to roam through quite an entertaining field of informational tidbits, mainly riffing off of words that begin with a particular Greek letter, exploring not only the etymology of everyday (and not so everyday) words but also a healthy heaping of history, biography, and all around fun factoids and trivia.

Though the book was published in 1981 it only noticeably dates itself once (unless cartographers still hoard maps in this day of Google Maps and GPS) and unfortunately trots out the urban legend about glass getting thicker at the bottom over time. Nothing is footnoted or cited outright but there is a large bibliography, plus an index.

This book is worth it all for the funniest joke about the Pythagorean Theorem I've ever come across. Actually, it's the only joke about the theorem I've come across, but I'm sure it can't be outdone.

[Justine Olawsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK, I think I liked this one even more than A.B.C. Et Cetera: The Life & Times of the Roman Alphabet, maybe because the Greeks are just plain funnier than the Romans. Basically, at this point, the Brothers Humez can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned.

Etymology, history, humor, palindromes in various languages -- could there be a better combination?

There is so much to like in this free-wheeling tour through the Greek alphabet. Dang! I wish I had taken notes to pull some gems out for you. I was too wrapped up in each exciting, information-filled nugget of a chapter. Needless to say, I heartily recommend doing your best to hunt up a copy of this out-of-print treasure trove -- whether through your library or third-party sellers on Amazon.

[Godine Publisher & Black Sparrow Press · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Fresh and interesting. A painless, good-humored refresher in history, mythology, economics, warfare, literature, and language." — Philadelphia Inquirer

[Denicemarcell]

back in college, many moons ago, i knew all the letters of the greek alphabet. i am going to get reacquainted with them. i've written them all down and skimmed the book.