Rating: 
Summary: A Near-Miss
Review: Thomas Cahill's primer of Classical Greece will attract a lot of interest from fans of this series, which began with his popular "How the Irish Saved Civilization." The book focuses on classical Greek culture - Homer, the theatre, philosophy, and art. The choice of topics is standard, the treatment conventional rather than inspired, the writing breezy and informal (including an annoying amount of slang.) Really there is nothing new here, but on the positive side, the book does provide a basic level of information about ancient Greece to readers who are lacking it.Cahill's discussion of sexuality in ancient Greece is quite explicit; it includes frank translations of obscene Greek verse, explicit images of sexual activity on Greek vases, and blunt explanations of who is doing what to whom, complete with those good old Anglo-Saxon "four-letter words" in case anybody doesn't get the point. Superficial generalizations and analogies (between Solon and Franklin D. Roosevelt, between Pericles and John F. Kennedy, between the Peloponnesian War and the Second Gulf War) detract from the exposition, and illuminate neither ancient times nor our own. The book contains several minor lapses, and at least one "howler:" on page 189, Cahill astonishingly asserts that the battle of Thermopylae "proved the decisive turning point of the war, preventing the Persian army from descending on Greece." Of course, Thermopylae did no such thing; after several days of heroic Spartan resistance, the Persians finaly overran the position, poured into Attica, sacked Athens, and burned the Acropolis to the ground. Other lapses include the idea that Minoan palace civilization was destroyed by the eruption of Thera (from archaeology, we now know that the Minoans rebuilt afterwards); a regrettable confusion between hetairai and Geishas (the Japanese Geishas were purely entertainers, and did not provide sexual favors to their clients); and a failure to mention the most probable reason that Socrates was put to death (namely, that he was on the losing (pro-Spartan) side of the political division that appeared in Athens following its defeat by Sparta in the Peloponnesian War.) In summary, while Cahill is enough of a classicist to give us some of his own translations from the Greek, and although he has presented a good selection of topics for an introductory audience, there are enough lapses in the book that it seemed like a disappointment compared to others in this series.
Rating:
Summary: An okay starter
Review: To be honest, I was first drawn by the cover. It's a gorgeous shot for sure, and living in Michigan during the winter, it was a bit of a tease. Second thought was, being a Greek-American was that a modern writer was finally writing about us Greeks (universally agreed as the best of the best....just kidding.) When I read the book however, it seemed to be more of a primer than anything. That is, he covers certain aspects of the actual history, covers some poetry, and philosophers, and pays Thucydides the credit and admiration he deserves. Other than that, the book seemed to criticize ancient Greece for having slaves and prohibiting women to vote. This isn't really put into context very well, as a democracy no matter how limited is several steps ahead of autocracy. Also, the writing seems to focus on the raunchy aspects that a writer would approach if he wanted partying under-grads to think ancient cultures were "cool" too. Overall, if you're only slightly familiar with Greek history/culture it's a good primer. But if you are a serious student, don't bother. But the cover alone is pretty enough for at least a couple dollars.
Rating: 
Summary: Could have been better!
Review: Unfortunately, there is little in the book relating the Greeks to modern life, very few instances of why the Greeks really matter to us. It is an interesting discussion of the Athenians but virtually nothing about the many other Greek City-States, including Sparta, was included, and these other polis are no less important in defining Ancient Greek society as the Athenians. How did the oligarchs and kingdoms abounding in the Aegean two millennia ago affect future history? Is there an element of Sparta in present day governance, or in other aspects of life today? What were the differences in the various Greek States and why did democracy lose out among these various other systems? Is it true that the Athenians virtually argued themselves to death through their democratic processes and were they more successful when they turned, although briefly, to oligarchic rule? This could have been a much better book.
Rating: 
Summary: How hairy history tales shape us... There are many more!
Review: Yes the Greeks matter that is the least one can say. You should really read this and you'll enjoy the tale as much as your kid likes his bedtime story. Make sure you read "History: Fiction or Science?" afterwards (or before, even better!), you'll find revelations not only on the history of J.C. but on many other parts of antiquity, a controversial book but when the author/mathematician claims that J.C. was born in the 11Th century AD, he proves it with Astronomy and mathematics
| 
