Study of the Epigraphic Culture inAncient Greece

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I explored the characteristics of literacy and epigraphic culture in ancient Greece, particularly, in ancient Athens. I focus on the emergence of the public inscriptions, their functions and transformation through the period of time.The results are the following :1. All inscriptions were votive in nature, regardless of the genre. Therefore, almost all inscriptions were erected on the Akropolis. Because they were considered sacred, people had to obey them, and when an offence against an inscription was made, it was thought impious to the gods as well as dangerous to the society.2. The most important components of public inscriptions were : who proposed the decree ; who was responsible for the erection ; who proposed the amendment etc. Publishing the names of people involved in a decision, was one of the essential elements of public inscriptions, because they only proves who played an active role in a public decision perpetually. The elite could claim their presence and their importance in a society through inscriptions.Not only the elite, but also the ordinary people seem to have enjoyed epigraphic culture more than it has been generally thought recently. Though their literacy seems to have been much more simple, they still enjoy it, and they even parodied the elite's culture with an ironical remark.