The Traveler's Key to Ancient Greece

Rating:
Summary: The best book to take with you to Greece
Review: If your intention in Greece is to explore the wonders of the ancients, this is the best book to take. Of the several books I had with me, it was the most complete, detailed, informative and enjoyable--it was the one I came to trust and refer to the most often. Small enough to stuff into a pocket, it allows you to sit at the sites and read while looking at the ruins. The facts and suppostions were generally supported by other sources, so being able to rely on its accuracy is another plus.

Rating:
Summary: The best book to take with you to Greece
Review: If your intention in Greece is to explore the wonders of the ancients, this is the best book to take. Of the several books I had with me, it was the most complete, detailed, informative and enjoyable--it was the one I came to trust and refer to the most often. Small enough to stuff into a pocket, it allows you to sit at the sites and read while looking at the ruins. The facts and suppostions were generally supported by other sources, so being able to rely on its accuracy is another plus.

Rating:
Summary: Explore the sacred places of Greece!
Review: The secret mysteries at Eleusis, the oracle at Delphi, the labyrinths of Knossos, the vast theater and healing center at Epidauros, the perfect symmetry of the Parthenon - this book leads us to such sites to discover the link between the sacred past and the present.

"The gods have not totally vacated the holy place," says Richard Geldard. He brings to life the mythology that shaped the brilliance of Greece and blends rare material on history and ritual with the most recent archeological data. The result is a special travel guide comprehensive enough to be the only one you pack, with commentary on:

* sites of the palace and temple cultures

* Greek drama, philosophy, art, and sculpture

* sacred geometry and architecture

* gallery collections in three major museums

For both armchair and actual travelers, Traveler's Key opens access to the fabled vision of the pilgrims of old - those who came to worship, to purify mind and body, and to seek wisdom in the experience - while detailing the living mythology that still has the power to transform lives.

"Other guide books furnish facts; The Traveler's Key provides understanding. Ancient Greece seen without this book is another and lesser Greece altogether." --John Anthony West, author of The Traveler's Key to Ancient Egypt

"Indispensible for traveling with a spiritual intent." --Normandi Ellis, author of Feasts of Light

Richard Geldard, Ph.D., studied classical Greek theater at Stanford University. He is the author of Remembering Heraclitus.

Rating:
Summary: Superbly written, flawlessly produced, highly recommended.
Review: The Traveler's Key To Ancient Greece: A Guide To Sacred Places is the ideal guidebook for exploring sacred locations that once were home to the secret mysteries at Eleusis, the oracle at Delphi, the Labyrinths of Knossos, the vast theater and healing center at Epidauros, the perfect symmetry of the Parthenon, and more! This unique and very special travel guide offers informative and expert commentary on the Hellenic world's palace and temple cultures and sites; Greek drama, philosophy, art, and sculpture; sacred geometry and architecture; and gallery collections in three major museums. Whether you are an armchair explorer or plan to be an on-site visitor, The Traveler's Key To Ancient Greece is a compelling, informative, superbly written and flawlessly produced introduction to understanding as well as visiting these sacred sites of antiquity.

Rating:
Summary: Superbly written, flawlessly produced, highly recommended.
Review: The Traveler's Key To Ancient Greece: A Guide To Sacred Places is the ideal guidebook for exploring sacred locations that once were home to the secret mysteries at Eleusis, the oracle at Delphi, the Labyrinths of Knossos, the vast theater and healing center at Epidauros, the perfect symmetry of the Parthenon, and more! This unique and very special travel guide offers informative and expert commentary on the Hellenic world's palace and temple cultures and sites; Greek drama, philosophy, art, and sculpture; sacred geometry and architecture; and gallery collections in three major museums. Whether you are an armchair explorer or plan to be an on-site visitor, The Traveler's Key To Ancient Greece is a compelling, informative, superbly written and flawlessly produced introduction to understanding as well as visiting these sacred sites of antiquity.

Rating:
Summary: MUCH More than a mere guide book...A True Guide Book...
Review: This book is an excellent starting point for
anyone remotely interested in the ancient Greeks --
not merely the most famous ones of the 6th and
5th centuries B.C. Here interweave myth,
mystery, knowledge, mysticism (Pythagorean and
Orphic introductions), plus excellent explanations
of attributes and psychological aspects related
to the gods.
[here is a section from the "Introduction"]
Each site has its "myth," a term which means
a story of the life of a place, human being, or
god. All myths have meaning, and the task has
been to translate the myth into the myth-language
of our own era. For the most part, the language
of our mythology is the language of psychology.
And of course there are several styles of
psychological language: Jungian, Freudian, Adlerian,
and so on. In this case, the language goes back
to Plato and has been brought to the present
idiom through the work of Paul Diel, the late
Austrian psychologist.
Plato, the great voice of the journey of the
human soul, was the first Western writer to speak
of the idea of spiritual development, the idea
that a human being might lead his life in such a
way as to AWAKEN [my caps] within himself the
divine life. The possibility of such a discovery
makes Plato's works a psychology, or a study of
human behavior in the physical, intellectual,
and spiritual sense. Plato was indebted to the
voices of his own culture and his predecessors in
philosophy, both Eastern and Western [Orpheus;
Pythagoras]. These fragments from the past form
a living mythology which still has power to
transform lives. -- Richard G. Geldard.
*The Traveler's Key to Ancient Greece.* (1989).
* * * * * * * * *

Rating:
Summary: MUCH More than a mere guide book...A True Guide Book...
Review: This book is an excellent starting point for
anyone remotely interested in the ancient Greeks --
not merely the most famous ones of the 6th and
5th centuries B.C. Here interweave myth,
mystery, knowledge, mysticism (Pythagorean and
Orphic introductions), plus excellent explanations
of attributes and psychological aspects related
to the gods.
[here is a section from the "Introduction"]
Each site has its "myth," a term which means
a story of the life of a place, human being, or
god. All myths have meaning, and the task has
been to translate the myth into the myth-language
of our own era. For the most part, the language
of our mythology is the language of psychology.
And of course there are several styles of
psychological language: Jungian, Freudian, Adlerian,
and so on. In this case, the language goes back
to Plato and has been brought to the present
idiom through the work of Paul Diel, the late
Austrian psychologist.
Plato, the great voice of the journey of the
human soul, was the first Western writer to speak
of the idea of spiritual development, the idea
that a human being might lead his life in such a
way as to AWAKEN [my caps] within himself the
divine life. The possibility of such a discovery
makes Plato's works a psychology, or a study of
human behavior in the physical, intellectual,
and spiritual sense. Plato was indebted to the
voices of his own culture and his predecessors in
philosophy, both Eastern and Western [Orpheus;
Pythagoras]. These fragments from the past form
a living mythology which still has power to
transform lives. -- Richard G. Geldard.
*The Traveler's Key to Ancient Greece.* (1989).
* * * * * * * * *