The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization - Hardcover

Paul Anthony Cartledge

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0563537647 ISBN 13: 9780563537649

Publisher: BBC Worldwide, 2001

Synopsis

Who were the classical Greeks? Paul Cartledge examines the Greeks in terms of their own self-image, mainly as it was presented by the supposedly objective historians - Herodotus, Thucydides and Xenophon. The Greeks were the inventors of history as it is understood today, just as they are the cultural ancestors of the West in so many other ways. Yet their historiography remained rooted in myth. The mental and material context of many of the inventions of Greek achievement which are rightly treasured today - especially democracy, philosophy and theatre, as well as history - was often deeply alien to today's way of thinking and acting. The aim of this book is to probe fully that achievement, principally using a typical Greek mode of conceptualization - polarity or binary opposition. It explores in depth how the dominant - adult, male, citizen - Greeks sought, with limited success, to define themselves unambiguously in polar opposition to a whole series of "others" - non-Greeks, women, non-citizens, slaves and gods. Colin Burrow is co-editor of the "Key Themes in Ancient History" series.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

An unusual approach is taken here by Cartledge, a respected scholar of ancient history at the University of Cambridge. A companion volume to a PBS series that aired this month, the book doesn't offer a chronologically anchored narrative of the ancient Greek city states. Rather, the book's 15 chapters focus on the lives of individuals, some well-known to us from history, literature and art: Sappho, Pericles, Socrates, Alexander the Great. Cartledge's main achievement is bringing to our attention others who have been familiar mostly to scholars: Artemisia (a woman who fought on the Persian side in the Persian Wars), Pasion (a money-changer), Neaera (a courtesan). Cartledge personalizes ancient Greek history by using this biographical material to introduce the reader to broader aspects of life in ancient Greece. The focus is primarily social-historical, but the book also connects with such grand military/political events as the Peloponnesian War and the conquests of Alexander the Great. Easy to read and even jaunty in style, this volume also provides an abbreviated time line, a necessary aid for those unfamiliar with the chronology of Greek history, as well as a thoughtful introduction and suggestions for further reading.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist:

This compact survey of classical Greek history and culture serves as a companion to the three-hour PBS series that premieres this month. Cartledge, a reader in Greek history at the University of Cambridge, has written a superb general history that weaves the individual stories of diverse Greek icons (i.e., Cleisthenes, Pericles, Alexander) with the broader themes of Hellenic society. While Cartledge pays tribute to the Hellenes for providing many of the pillars of Western civilization, he does not shrink from detailing their warts as well as the striking differences that separate their world view from that of "modern" Western man. The text is enriched with excellent illustrations that convey the grandeur and diversity of Greek civilization. Jay Freeman

About this edition

• Publisher: BBC Worldwide
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0563537647
• ISBN 13: 9780563537649
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256