The So-called Nonsense Inscriptions on Ancient Greek Vases: Between Paideia and Paidiá by Sara Chiarini (review)

• Published in: The Classical World Vol. 112; no. 3; pp. 225 - 226
• Main Author: Sider, David
• Format: Journal Article Book Review
• Language: English
• Published: New York Johns Hopkins University Press 01.04.2019
• Subjects: Ancient Greek; Art history; Child-directed speech; Grammatical aspect; Greek language; Hellenistic; Inscriptions; Reading; Vases; New York; United States > US
• ISSN: 0009-8418; 1558-9234; 1558-9234
• DOI: 10.1353/clw.2019.0023

Sara Chiarini is the author of a small gem of a book on the Hesiodic Shield of Heracles, which moves quickly, easily, and aptly between art historical observations and philological and literary questions.1 Her new book, however, on those Greek vases with letters that though undamaged make little or no sense, will not qualify for a multum-in-parvo award. Various explanations have been offered, each one credible in itself and not necessarily at odds with the others, but all fall short of proof: the artist is illiterate; the letters are meant merely to be decorative/aesthetic; writing in and of itself lends prestige to a vase; although nonsensical as Greek, the sounds represented by the sometimes iterative letters attempt to reproduce certain sounds (such as ]ΙΣ ΙΣ ΙΧΣ ΙΧ[ next to a rooster, or ENENENE as baby talk coming out of the mouth of a new-born Athena, with similar clusters nearby). When in conclusion she says that “these inscriptions could unleash a whole range of imaginative, logical and linguistic skills in a literate reader” (217), the reader that comes to mind is none other than Chiarini herself, who has just shared these skills with all her readers.4 David Sider New York University Footnotes Publishers are invited to submit new books to be reviewed to Professor Gareth Williams, Department of Classics, Columbia University, 1130 Amsterdam Ave., 617 Hamilton Hall, MC 2861, New York, NY 10027; email: gdw5@columbia.edu. 1.