It's All Greek to Me - Hardcover

Higgins, Charlotte

3.69

254 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1906021430 ISBN 13: 9781906021436

Publisher: Short Books Ltd, 2008

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Consider the way we think: about right and wrong, about the nature of beauty, goodness, and truth. What, in the end, it is to be a human being amid the immensity of the universe. What it is to be mortal, to live for a brief while, and die. All this, and more, we have learned from the ancient Greeks. They moulded the basic disciplines and genres in which we still organise thought: from poetry to drama, from politics to philosophy, from history to medicine, and even ethnography. Packed with useful cribs - history timelines; a who's who; a guide to the Greek gods; a map for those who struggle to know their Lemnos from their Lesbos - It's All Greek to Me is a bluffer's guide in one sense, a primer that will give you a helping hand around Greek democracy, or the Persian Wars, or the Parthenon. But it is much more than that; it is a book of enthusiasms and pleasures, which aims to bring ancient Greece back into the mainstream of life - where it belongs.

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Review:

"Higgins's sparky style makes her subject matter so palatable that... her readers may not feel the need to seek out the classics because she has distilled them all too well." -- Time Out, November 2008

"Higgins delivers digestible pr�cis and peppy plot summaries... the appendices would make fine stocking-fillers in their own right... A love letter to ancient Greece" -- The Telegraph, October 2008

"In It's All Greek to Me, Charlotte Higgins does a great job in conveying the heart of Greek culture to a general audience. Perfect for the stocking." -- Mary Beard, History Today

"With a marvellous display of knowledgeable enthusiasm and a keen talent for compression, (Higgins) shows just precisely why the Greeks matter" -- The Guardian, October 2008

From the Back Cover:

Why is ancient Greece important? Because, quite simply, if we want to understand the modern Western world, we need to look back to the Greeks. Consider the way we think about ethics, about the nature of beauty and truth, about our place in the universe, about our mortality. All this we have learned from the ancient Greeks. They molded the basic disciplines and genres in which we still organize thought, from poetry to drama, from medicine to philosophy, from history to ethnography.

Packed with useful facts, including a timeline, a "mythology for dummies," a who's who, a guide to Homer's epics, and a handy map for those struggling to know their Lemnos from their Lesbos, It's All Greek to Me is an entertaining and insightful tour through the world of the ancient Greeks. Why are some laws Draconian? What is an Achilles' heel? Why were the Spartans spartan? Charlotte Higgins provides these answers and more, arming average readers with the knowledge they need to understand the Greeks and their tremendous contributions to our lives. This book aims to unlock the richness of a fascinating culture and place it where it should be in the mainstream of life."

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