Barry B. Powell is Halls-Bascom Professor of Classics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His previous publications include "Homer and the Origin of the Greek Alphabet "(1991), "A Short Introduction to Classical Myth" (2001), "Writing and the Origins of Greek Literature" (2002), "Classical Myth" (fourth edition, 2004), and "The Greeks: History, Culture, and Society" (with Ian Morris, 2005).