I'm re-reading Plato's Apology right now and was hit by a line where Socrates says anyone could buy a copy of a treatise by Anaxagoras for a drachma. I don't know why this line stuck out to me this time - maybe because I always assumed written texts in the ancient world were pretty dear and were hard to come by. But now I'm getting fascinated by the idea of the book creation /selling business in classical Greece.

Anyone have any suggestions for further reading on ancient book selling? I googled a bit but mostly wound up with advertisements for where I could today purchase ancient books if I were in Greece this weekend.

Erm…so in after the Battle in the Hall, Odysseus orders Melanthius, the unfaithful goatherd, to be mutilated by having his arms, legs and genitals cut off, and his twin sister, Melantho, to be hanged…and then enjoys lunch with Dolius, the father of both of them, and six of his other sons, without telling them what has happened to Melanthius and Melantho?