Out of Print: Daniel Hadas on Homer and the dawn of literacy

Is writing under threat from AI? Is reading a lost art? Did the invention of writing itself  irrevocably change human nature? And are we entirely proscribed by language?

Concerns like these have a long history, and how we address them is not without consequences. 

Out of Print was held at Verdurin in June 2026. The symposium was organised with Edmund King.

In the first part of the event, Scholar Daniel Hadas explores Homer’s transition from spoken to written text, as the pivotal moment in ancient Greco-Roman literacy. He thus historicises writing and literacy’s role in the Ancient world.

Hadas specializes in early Christian literature, medieval Latin, and the study of manuscripts.

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