Greece Books

A beautiful and tender book about one the most remote places in a country overcome by mass tourism. Byron's enthusiasm and wit leaps off the page. A contemporary of Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, John Betjeman and others of the so-called Brideshead Generation, Byron was, I think, the greatest talent of the lot because of his passinate conviction that is unobscured by the angst-ridden,boring Catholic fogeyism of the others. Byron's assertion that it is in the Byzantine empire where Hellenic culture reaches its high-point (not in 5th-century Athens)is, in my opinion, correct. I'll take the serene interior of an Orthodox church over the enigmatic Parthenon anytime.

Although the publication date given for the paperback edition is 1987, that represents the rather plain-looking "Limited Paperback Edition" reissue of this 1983 Princeton publication, not the later (1993) MYTHOS series paperback, with its beautiful cover. If you happen to order a used copy, you may get something a lot less attractive than you expected, but the contents are identical.

And the contents are worth having, if you are interested in the problems of early Greek thought about human personality, consciousness, and survival after death. Since later developments of these are still influential in Western Civilization (Jewish as well as Christian) -- and help distinguish it, and its Islamic cousin, from say, Taoism, Hinduism, or Buddhism -- this is not exactly a trivial topic, of interest only to academics who love to quarrel over texts in dead languages.

Bremmer's short book picks up a long-running argument -- apparently going back before Plato -- about just what Homer was talking about when he describes the thoughts, emotions, vital organs, and deaths of his characters, and how the poetic vocabulary of the epics influenced -- or didn't influence -- Greek popular and elite thought through the classical period. (If "breath" and "spirit" are the same word, are lungs "spiritual" organs? What about the heart, which Odysseus admonishes for its unruly emotions? Is losing consciousness a form of death?) Plato raises objections to Homer, and Aristotle splits up Homeric ideas between his treatises on animals, on physiological issues, and on "The Soul," but the philosophers still wind up quoting the same familiar lines.

There have been a number of late-nineteenth and twentieth century landmark studies -- those familiar with this field of classical studies will think at once of, among others, Erwin Rohde's "Psyche: The Cult of Souls and Belief in Immorality Among the Greeks," Bruno Snell's "Discovery of the Mind," and Richard Onians' "Origins of European Thought about the Body, the Mind, the Soul, the World, Time, and Fate" to mention two prominent German scholars and one English. Rohde and Onians in particular produced encyclopedic surveys; the latter also covering non-Classical cultures (as well as a wider range of subjects).

Bremmer masterfully condenses a lot of complicated evidence and its interpretations, and advances several new arguments, which I found plausible and intriguing, if not always absolutely convincing. Since his book is short (mercifully short, some might say), he does not try to evaluate all of his predecessors, or refute every argument. This makes his writing a lot easier to follow than it might otherwise be; it also has the potential to mislead the novice reader who fails to follow up on Bremmer's short, but well-chosen, Selected Bibliography, or ignores the footnotes citing the major literature of the preceding century (or so).

Since I came to Bremmer *after* reading the above-mentioned books, and several others, I can only suspect that "The Early Greek Concept of the Soul" would serve as a good introduction to this complex, and still controversial, subject, but it is a very strong suspicion.

The author has since returned to the subject, covering later developments in another brief work, "The Rise and Fall of the Afterlife: The 1995 Read-Tuckwell Lectures" (2001).

John Boardmans' series of books on Greek vases are a rare treat for the general public. Early Greek Vase Painting investigates and unravels the early history of Greek vases. Boardman begins ,naturally, with the Attic geometric style and procedes to show us how it was the basis for all later Greek vase painting .He traces the developement to narrative representation, while discussing stylistic influences and regional differences.Individual artists are recognized for their contributions and personal quirks . There are many (511)photographs and a small but usefull chart .Pictures are extremely well chosen to illustrate the authors text .Boardman casts a new light on the dawn of Greek vases - a remarkable work !

Skip the boring, tedious textbooks! Guerber brings history facts to life in story book fashion. I am convinced that children would enjoy learning history in school if they could read from books like this rather than from textbooks. My 6th grade home-schooler read this a few chapters at a time while we were studying Ancient Greece. He always wanted to keep reading farther than what I had assigned him for that day. I highly recommend this book for 5th through 8th graders. We also enjoyed "The Story of the Romans" by the same author.

The author has written an exhaustively detailed account of the colonization of the Greek peninsula and Ancient Greek Civilisation. He is combining historical and biological evidence and theory into a fascinating story starting with the unique environmental conditions at the end of the ice age. His arguments are quite convincing. His way of telling the story, however would have benefitted from less outrage against the usual Classicist ways of using historical evidence. He is far less critical against biological theory and this might be the only flaw in this otherwise truly excellent book. The reader should be aware of the scholarly character, however: This is not easy reading. it is worthwhile, however, and works like this will change our view of the past.

A magical book that introduces young readers to the richness and strenght of Greek myths through the knowledge of an existing archeological artifact: the disc of Phaistos.
Computers, emails, technology and real adventure in search of one of the most haunting human dreams: the travel through time.

This is one of the most amazing books I have ever read. I experienced/read this book within a study group of other Orthodox Christians, and the transforming element of this book, through the wisdom of the Elder Paisios, was unanimously agreed upon by every member of our group. It is not a book you read, and put down. It is a book, which if you allow it, seeps into your soul and changes your very life.

Eleftherios Venizelos: The Trials of Statesmanship is a balanced must read for anyone interested in the vision, courage, passion, education and diplomatic skills required to compete and achieve in this age of globalization.

Kitromilides does an excellent job of objectively detailing the pros and cons of Venizelos' political career and his continuing impact on Greece, as well as Europe and the Middle East.

The academic approach to Venizelos' role in the liberation of the island of Crete from Turkish occupation and eventually, its reunification with Greece, is without, a doubt a roadmap to peace for the many conflicts existing today.

This title has long been out of print, but it is well worth hunting down and adding to one's collection. Despite the 1974 publishing date, Scullard's writing style is not outdated, and the level of illustration is sufficient. This book is a model for how an author should go about thoroughly reviewing a specialized component of historical warfare. It presents a complete, cohesive, authoritative, and balanced picture of the subject.

Scullard's interpretations are clearly presented, but he also provides balanced analysis of other possibilities and competing theories. He also does a commendable job of attempting elephant "accounting" in the historical sources, by keeping track of elephant forces changing hands from one ruler/army to others. This lends strength to his interpretations and assumptions.

The elephant in warfare is peculiarly striking since it is both so formidable and unpredictable. Elephants were powerful weapons in their day, at times striking terror into men and horses and thereby securing victory. On other occasions elephants were easily countered and sent amok back into their own forces, resulting in catastrophic disarray for their own army. The mercurial nature of elephant warfare, their declining population in North Africa, expensive upkeep, and improved countermeasures lead to the elephant's demise as a weapon of war. All these aspects are discussed in this fine book.

This work is for those whose imaginations are captured by the battles of Hannibal, Phyrrhus, and Alexander that involved elephants, and those who want a full understanding of elephants as weapons of war. Scullard does a fine job of reviewing elephant usage of the period from Porus vs. Alexander all the way to Sassanid Persia. Within the covers one will find descriptions of elephant use by Carthage, Numidia, Ptolemaic Egypt, the Seleucids, Sassanids, Rome (via allies), and more.

The author has included numerous archaeological examples of plates, figures, and stele depicting elephants with riders and/or towers. In addition there are photographs of many coins of different eras that featured elephants. These are discussed at length in the text. The text does a fine job of reviewing literary evidence, the archaeological discoveries, and more modern knowledge of elephants to paint a plausible picture of their use in war.

Although I had a fair grasp of elephant warfare before obtaining this book, I learned some surprising things. Chief among these is that towers/turrets were apparently used on forest elephants at times. While such use is mentioned several times by primary sources and I knew of such references, other modern authors have suggested it was not possible. Scullard accepts that it was possible, and was in fact necessary in the case of the Ptolomies facing turreted Indian elephants. If there is one thing that could be added to this work to improve upon it, it would be some modern artistic depictions of elephants in battle.

An important primary source from this critical period of Byzantine history. Good to have both the Greek and the English text.