The Greeks: A Portrait of Self and Others
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Book Overview
Who were the Classical Greeks? This is not an original question, but in this book it is given an original and challenging answer. Paul Cartledge examines the Greeks in terms of their own self-image, mainly as it was presented by the supposedly objective historians: Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenephon. The Greeks were the inventors of history as we understand it, just as they were our cultural ancestors in so many other ways. Yet their historiography remained rooted in myth, and the mental and material context of many of the inventions for which we rightly treasure the Greek achievement--especially democracy, philosophy, and theater, as well as history--was often deeply alien to our own ways of thinking and acting. The aim of The Greeks is to explore that achievement. The book looks in depth at how the dominant Greeks--adult, male, citizen--sought, with limited success, to define themselves unambiguously in polar opposition to a whole series of "others"--non-Greeks, women, non-citizens, slaves, and gods.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0192891472
ISBN13:9780192891471
Release Date:October 1993
Publisher:Oxford University Press, USA
Length:248 Pages
Weight:0.45 lbs.
Dimensions:0.7" x 5.1" x 7.8"
Related Subjects
Ancient Comparative Politics Greece History Politics & Government Politics & Social SciencesCustomer Reviews
1 rating
Putting the Record Straight
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
This book is a set text on the MA in Classical Studies I am currently doing. It is certainly not an easy book (though his writing style is invigorating) and if you are looking for a text book merely eulogizing the Greeks then this is not the book for you. Cartledge sets out to examine the Greeks in terms of their culture and legacy under a number of headings and does it by examining each heading eg. Women, Slavery etc in terms of its exact opposite and its negative aspects as well as its positive ones. The chapter on Slavery is particularly good. It must be remembered that Cartledge is an academic, writing for academics and students taking various classic courses. This is not really a book for the general public. But if you have some interest or knowledge about Ancient Greece and want to find out more, then I can thoroughly recommend this book.
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