Ancient Greek History

Modern perceptions of Classical Greece are almost invariably based on Athens and Sparta, but Corinth was also a key city-state in antiquity. When St. Paul visited in 51 CE, the Corinth he saw was actually a relatively new city, having been built a little over 100 years previously, but he found a city five times larger than Athens at that time and one which was the capital of a prosperous province.

In The Birth of Politics, Melissa Lane introduces the listener to the foundations of Western political thought, from the Greeks, who invented democracy, to the Romans, who created a republic and then transformed it into an empire. Tracing the origins of our political concepts from Socrates to Plutarch to Cicero, Lane reminds us that the birth of politics was a story as much of individuals as ideas.

The enigma of Alexander the Great has remained with us for 2,300 years. In spite of the best efforts of historians, Alexander is no less a mystery to us now than he probably was during his own lifetime. There was no one like him before or since. In the pages of Harold Lamb's intriguing Alexander of Macedon, we find some of the answers to the great riddle of his character.

Gaius Musonius Rufus was a Roman Stoic philosopher of the first century AD. He has been referred to as the Roman Socrates and is also remembered for being the teacher of Epictetus. He taught philosophy in Rome during the reign of Nero and so was sent into exile in 65 AD, returning to Rome only under Galba. Twenty-one of his lectures survive together with a few fragmentary notes from others, all of which are contained in this narration.

Weapons of biological and chemical warfare have been in use for thousands of years, and Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs, Adrienne Mayor's fascinating exploration of the origins of biological and unethical warfare, draws extraordinary connections between the mythical worlds of Hercules and the Trojan War, the accounts of Herodotus and Thucydides, and modern methods of war and terrorism.

When I consider how much honor is attributed to antiquity, and how many times, not to mention many other examples, a fragment of an antique statue has been bought at a great price in order to have it near to one, honoring his house, being able to have it imitated by those who delight in those arts, and how they then strive with all industry to present them in all their work: and when I see, on the other hand, the works of greatest virtu which Historians indicate have been accomplished by ancient Kingdoms and Republics, by Kings, Captains, Citizens, Lawgivers, and others....

For the ancient Greeks, there were few divine beings more important, and more generous, to humanity than the goddess Athena. She was also called "Pallas", "Pallas Athena", and (to the Romans) "Minerva". The daughter of Zeus, Athena was famous as a virgin warrior woman who was born from her father's skull bearing a helmet, shield, and spear. Yet she was far more than simply a warrior goddess.

Medusa, once a bewitching beauty, has become a hideous monster with snakes for hair. When men look at her, they turn to stone. When King Polydectes sends Perseus for Medusa's head, he thinks Perseus will soon be another one of Medusa's stone men. Or will he?

For those who seek inspiration from the great civilizations of the past, Golden Laurels, Silver Seas offers an accessible, comprehensive, and engaging survey of ancient Greek history. From the devastating Trojan War to the Hellenistic Greek Kingdoms fighting to succeed Alexander, here’s your chance to learn all the key events that marked the history and culture of the ancient Greeks.

Pandora is always curious. When a messenger arrives with a beautiful golden vase from Zeus, Pandora is entranced by it. She longs to open its lid, but Zeus has told her not to. Will Pandora be able to keep her curiosity under control?

In Homer, Barbara Graziosi considers Homer's famous works and their impact on readers throughout the centuries. She shows how The Iliad and The Odyssey benefit from a tradition of reading that spans well over two millennia, stemming from ancient scholars at the library of Alexandria, in the third and second centuries BCE, who wrote some of the first commentaries on the Homeric epics. Summaries of these scholars' notes made their way into the margins of Byzantine manuscripts; from Byzantium the annotated manuscripts traveled to Italy.

He stood upon the lip of a dark ocean and looked to the end of night. What do you do when you wish you'd never got away with murder? Shelley was the forbidden love of Paul's childhood. Now she has turned his life upside down. She has become his lover, and he has committed a murder. How can he possibly reconcile who he was with what he has become? And why does he keep talking about the legendary golden statue of Sumerian courtesan Ah-le-tari? Paul Cane's daughter desperately needs answers. And is it really him talking to her on the phone? "An ambitious work." - Peter Preston Note: Greek ...

In 431 BC, the long simmering rivalry between the city-states of Athens and Sparta erupted into open warfare, and for more than a generation the two were locked in a life-and-death struggle. The war embroiled the entire Greek world, provoking years of butchery previously unparalleled in ancient Greece. Whole cities were exterminated, their men killed, their women and children enslaved.

Pindar was one of the greatest lyric poets of ancient Greece. He is best known today for his odes to the victors of athletic contests, including those at famed Olympia. These odes, the only complete surviving pieces by Pindar, are marvels of sustained imagination, packed with dense parallels between the athletic victor, his illustrious aristocratic ancestors, and the myths of Olympian gods and heroes like Jason, Heracles, and Perseus.

Experience the Greek Pantheon as never before and discover how ancient Greek mythology forged the bedrock of Western Civilization, even if you're a newcomer to the world of Olympus. The enigma of Greek mythology has fascinated and puzzled historians, philosophers, literary geniuses, and inquisitive minds alike. Are you one of those minds? Do you wonder at the magnificent tales of Zeus, Hades, Athena, and the menagerie of gods that populated the ancient world?

From classicist James Romm comes a thrilling deep dive into the last decades of ancient Greek freedom leading up to Alexander the Great’s destruction of Thebes - and the saga of the greatest military corps of the age, the Theban Sacred Band, a unit composed of 150 pairs of male lovers.

Unlock the Secrets of the First Heliocentric Thinker. What would it take to turn the universe inside out? Aristarchus of Samos dared to reimagine the cosmos long before Galileo peered through his telescope or Copernicus sketched his orbits. Aristarchus of Samos for Beginners: A Journey Through the Mind of an Ancient Astronomer brings his groundbreaking ideas to light, uncovering the forgotten genius who first put the Sun at the center of everything. Discover the Mind that Defied Centuries of Belief. In an era when the Earth was believed to sit motionless at the universe's core, Aristarchus ...

Marcus Cicero, Rome's greatest statesman and orator, was elected to the Roman Republic's highest office at a time when his beloved country was threatened by power-hungry politicians, dire economic troubles, foreign turmoil, and political parties that refused to work together. Sound familiar? Cicero's letters, speeches, and other writings are filled with timeless wisdom and practical insight about how to solve these and other problems of leadership and politics. How to Run a Country collects the best of these writings to provide an entertaining, common-sense guide for modern leaders and citizens

Inside you will find some of the most famous highlights from history along with the greatest stories ever written. Children will learn about the past and our ancestors in new and exciting ways.

The stepping stone between Europe and Africa, the gateway between the East and the West, at once a stronghold, clearinghouse and observation post, Sicily has been invaded and fought over by Phoenicians and Greeks, Carthaginians and Romans, Goths and Byzantines, Arabs and Normans, Germans, Spaniards and the French for thousands of years. It has belonged to them all - and yet has properly been part of none.