The Ancient Greeks For Dummies
Language: English
Pages: 384
ISBN: 0470987871
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
The civilisation of the Ancient Greeks has been immensely influential on the language, politics, educational systems, philosophy, science and arts of Western culture. As well as instigating itself as the birthplace of the Olympics, Ancient Greece is famous for its literature, philosophy, mythology and the beautiful architecture- to which thousands of tourists flock every year.
This entertaining guide introduces readers to the amazing world of the Ancient Greeks. It offers a complete rundown of Greek history alongside fascinating insights into daily life in Ancient Greece and a captivating overview of Greek mythology. Readers will discover how this ancient culture came to be the cornerstone of Western civilisation and the enormous influence it has had on our language, politics, education, philosophy, science, arts and sport.
- The history of Ancient Greece remains a wide topic of interest, particularly renowned for its influential and diverse culture
- This basic guide will allow greater access to this vibrant area of study, and provide a distinct and light-hearted approach to this vast area history
- Covers dozens of topics, including; the early civilisations, war & fighting, home & family, day-to-day life and much, much more!
About the author
Steve Batchelor is a lecturer in Classics at Richmond College and has been teaching ancient history for 10 years. He has written reviews for various publications, including History Today, and he has also been involved in running guided historical tours of Greece.
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bulk of ancient Greek history took place during the two thousand years or so before the accepted date of Jesus’s birth. (I go into more detail about BC and AD in Chapter 1). Of course, this is our dating system, not the one that the Greeks would have used. Oh yes, one other thing – places. I mention place names all the time. In most cases you can find the places on the map on the Cheat Sheet at the front of the book. In the case of battles, the Greeks often fought in a big open space like a field
inventive, and civilised people? Meeting the People of Ancient Greece Modern Greece is very different from the Greece of the ancient world. The biggest difference is that what you may think of Greece and being Greek is nothing like the ancients’ experience. ‘Being Greek’ in the ancient world meant that you shared a way of life with people, rather than the citizenship of a single country. Greeks lived all across the Mediterranean: Spain, North Africa, Sicily, southern Italy, Asia Minor
needed was an individual with the charisma and drive to take advantage of the situation and initiate massive change. Surviving the Cycle of Tyranny The Greeks used a word called turannos that means ‘the rule of one’ and is the source of the modern word tyrant. However, the ancient Greeks’ notion of the tyrant didn’t necessarily have the connotations of cruelty and harshness that it does today. The earliest surviving instance of the word tyrant is in a poem by Archilochos. This piece of verse
else The few years following 395 BC were a blur of battles in Greece and abroad with the Corinthian War and Sparta still involved with Persia. In 394 BC the Spartans were very successful against their Greek enemies, and the Spartan king Agesilaos was recalled to help finish the job. Having suffered some heavy defeats, the other Greek cities avoided open battles with the Spartans, preferring to carry out spoiling attacks on Spartan territories. At the same time the Spartan fleet was almost
calendar......................................................192 Working from dawn till dusk .............................................................194 Managing Your Money .................................................................................195 Dining and Delighting .................................................................................196 Enjoying a simple meal ......................................................................197 Favouring fish