Barry B. Powell is the Halls-Bascom Professor of Classics Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, author of the widely used textbook Classical Myth and many other books. He is a specialist in Homer and in the history of writing. He has also taught Egyptian philology for many years and courses in Egyptian civilization.
His forthcoming "Writing: Theory and History of the Technology of Civilization," Blackwell 2008, attempts to create a scientific terminology and taxonomy for the study of writing.
Powell's study Homer and the Origin of the Greek Alphabet advances the thesis that a single man invented the Greek alphabet expressly in order to record the poems of Homer. This thesis is controversial. The book was the subject of an international conference in Berlin in 2002 and has been influential outside classical philology, especially in media studies.
Powell's textbook, "Classical Myth," is used for classical mythology courses in America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, as his text "The Greeks: History, Culture, Society" (with Ian Morris) is widely used in ancient history classes.
Powell's critical study "Homer," second edition, translated into foreign languages, is widely read as an introduction to philologists, historians, and students of literature.
"A New Companion to Homer" (with Ian Morris), translated into modern Greek, is a comprehensive review of modern scholarship on Homer.
His literary works include poetry, a novel ("Ramses in Nighttown"), and a mock-epic, "The War at Troy: A True History."
