From Papyrus to Digital: UCI’s Thesaurus of Ancient Greek Texts
The ancient Greeks produced an immense volume of writing
recording the birth and early development of Western literature,
science, drama, philosophy and other areas of human endeavor.
The Homeric epics, the philosophical writings of Plato and
Aristotle, Greek drama, the New Testament, the writings of the
Eastern Church Fathers, and the Justinian legal corpus are only
a few examples of this extraordinary heritage. Unfortunately,
only a very small percentage of these texts--an estimated
3-5%--has survived. Most have been irretrievably lost due to
accidental destruction, the natural devastation of time, or
plundered by foreign invaders. The few texts that remain--all
the more precious as representations of what has been lost--are
widely scattered and can be difficult to access. For centuries,
scholars have sought ways to ensure that the remaining corpus
both survives and thrives.  Perhaps improbably, the fledgling
UCI campus began to play a central