How to Fit All of Ancient Greece in an Elevator by Theodore Papakostas

Author:Theodore Papakostas
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers

FAQ

No More Difficult Words, I Promise!

Why So Much Jargon?

‘I completely understand why you find it confusing, daunting, dreary. You’re right: jargon can be tedious and difficult to understand. But it also has a purpose, a raison d’être. When a discipline involves thousands of people from around the world, we need a common vocabulary, an agreement about naming conventions, in order to communicate.’

‘Can’t you just say, “we’ve found a vessel”? Do you really need five hundred different words for it?’

‘What kind of vessel, though? They’re all vessels! We need a way to tell them apart, don’t we? No matter what, precise terminology is critical to a discipline. That said, though, I acknowledge that there’s probably no urgent need for it outside the confines of scholarly publication and discussion, or analyses and disagreements among experts in the field. It stands to reason, also, that with the passage of time, terminology changes: new terms and meanings will be added, while old ones will be withdrawn or go defunct.’

‘The problem with jargon is that it always comes out, and often takes over, whenever the discipline attempts to communicate with the rest of the world. It’s just not helpful. Isn’t clear communication what you scholars aim for?’

‘You are right about that. The rest of the world does not need to know all the ins-and-outs of disciplinary terminology. Obviously, in the time we have, I cannot discuss the issue of terminology as a whole, nor can I offer definitions for each term used in the discipline. That said, I also need to point out that I didn’t bombard you with jargon. Not by a long shot! I haven’t even scratched the surface of disciplinary jargon. And let me tell you, there are plenty of examples of odd, inconsistent, or even absurd terminology that “speaks” only to an archaeologist and no one else.’

‘Now I’m curious. Give me some examples.’

‘The alabastron of the Mycenaean period is a squat, circular jar that resembles a small, round loaf of bread and was probably used to store unguents and cosmetics (fig. 1). The alabastron of classical antiquity, however, is completely different. This alabastron, a narrow vessel that resembles the volumetric flasks found in chemistry labs, was used to store perfumes and essential oils (fig. 2). The exaleiptron is a rather odd, squat, and rounded vessel from classical antiquity, similar to the Mycenaean alabastra I just mentioned, but with a deep, overhanging, and inward-turning lip that prevents spillage (fig. 3). At one time, we called them kothones, but now that name is no longer in use. When the exaleiptron comes with a foot, we call it a plemochoe (fig. 4). Don’t ask me why – just because. There are also deep drinking cups with two horizontal handles positioned at the rim that are called skyphoi (fig. 5). There are dozens of different types of skyphoi. One type is called the bolsal skyphos (fig. 6), because when the first two exemplars were examined many years ago, one was located in Bologna, Italy, and the other in Thessaloniki or Salonica.

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