New on CTAN: boustrophedon
Boustrophedon is a new LaTeX package for typesetting text in boustrophedon style, with alternating line direction and optional mirrored letterforms. Version 1.1.0 provides the documented source distribution, generated package file, manual, examples, inline bracketed-span mode, and support for generic mirrored text plus Archaic and Classical Greek epigraphic rendering. The package is maintained at: https://github.com/arishadj/latex-boustrophedon
The package’s Catalogue entry can be viewed at https://ctan.org/pkg/boustrophedon The package’s files themselves can be inspected at https://mirrors.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/boustrophedon/
Thanks for the upload. For the CTAN Team Petra Rübe-Pugliese
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boustrophedon – A LaTeX package for boustrophedon typography
This package typesets text in boustrophedon style, alternating the writing direction on each line.
Have you ever wondered why most Western languages are written left-to-right, while many Middle Eastern languages are written right-to-left? Both conventions may seem arbitrary today — but this was not always the case. In one of the earliest fully developed alphabets, the Archaic Greek alphabet (from alpha and beta, hence “alphabet”), writing was often performed boustrophedon, meaning “as the ox turns in ploughing.” Text was written left-to-right on one line, then right-to-left on the next, with both the direction of the text and the letterforms themselves mirrored accordingly.
This method creates a continuous flow of reading, as the reader does not need to jump back to the start of each new line, but instead follows the text in a natural back-and-forth motion. Reading takes some getting used to, but after a while it becomes surprisingly natural.
| Package | boustrophedon |
| Version | 1.1.0 2026-05-13 |
| Copyright | 2026 Aris Chatzichristos, PhD |
| Maintainer | Aris Chatzichristos |