Visualizing Data in the Quantitative Comparison of Ancient Texts: a Study of Paul, Epictetus, and Philodemus
Paul Robertson · 2019
This chapter explores how to visualize the polythetic classification of ancient literature, specifically around Paul’s letters, Epictetus’ Discourses, and Philodemus’ On Piety and On Death. Building on previous research, the notion of polythetic classification is explored with respect to texts. Specific application then occurs with respect to Paul’s letters, showing how hand coding data in spreadsheets is necessary to capture the shape of a given piece of literary data. Such hand coding facilitates visualization of data, in the form of bar graphs and line graphs. These forms of visualization then allow for an empirical, transparent form of comparison between texts. Qualitative analysis can productively supplement this quantitative analysis, matching specific literary and conceptual context with second-order data analysis.