Men of Athens, First Edition [Hardcover]

Olivia E Coolidge (Author), Milton Johnson (Illustrator)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 244 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (1962)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0007DX9IK
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,208,204 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Biographical History, May 3, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Men of Athens (Hardcover)

The thing about history is that it's only boring if you're reading a textbook. History is about individuals just like you and me who had an idea and through a dangerous and exciting adventure, got to see their idea come to fruition. Although factual and true, this is not a textbook, but a storybook, and the stories are very well told.

My sons, normal boys who like Justice League and video games, began to play "Ancient Greeks" just like they play "Superheroes" after hearing this book read aloud.

Olivia Coolidge is, in my opinion, one of the best writers of history for children to ever live. Her skill is right up there with Hillyer and Lancelyn Green, and if you're looking for a history that will fascinate your children and really draw them in to the grand story of people and ideas that history is, you need to get your kids one of Coolidges books. They come highly recommended by homeschoolers, particularly those involved in teaching classical education with the trivium and/or using the Charlotte Mason approach.

In Men of Athens, Ms. Coolidge succeeds in inspiring her readers with the ideals and the heroes and the "feel" of ancient Greece and that unique Athenian culture. Perfect for reading aloud to kids from age 7 up, children 9 and up can read it on their own (and will want to -- this is great storytelling).

Of all ancient cultures, Athens is the most essential to study because our culture is built on it. So much of what we think of as original to US culture is really pure Athens.

This book won a Newberry Award. Chapters and Headings are as follows:

PRELUDE TO THE GOLDEN AGE
Remember the Athenians
The Birth of a Lion
At the Gates of Sardis
A Legend of Salamis
Themistocles in Sparta
ATHENIANS OF THE GOLDEN AGE
The Athenian
The Two Painters
The Day He Was Athens
After-Dinner Stories
The Adventure of the Merchants Son
THE DEATH OF THE GOLDEN AGE
Out of Date
The Head
The Old Juryman

Excerpt:

"Xanthippos turned. He had been waiting for this moment. Spread out behind him lay the mountains with Pentelicon, a sharp and graceful triangle, in the midst, framed by Hymettus and the great mass of Mount Parnes, scored by ravines.... Below lie Athens, a brown, irregular huddle of mud brick and tile, Athens the greatly loved. Xanthippos thought of his city less with conscious love than with real exasperation, yet it calmed him to see how still she lay in the center of that setting of mountain, island, and seas, as though her existence were as simple and eternal a fact as their own. 'The eyesore of Athens, eh?' said a voice in his ear. 'Those pirates in Aegina!' Xanthippos jumped. "

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful stories !, July 20, 2010

By 

Linda B. (West Dundee, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Men of Athens, First Edition (Hardcover)

Before I read this, I read The Golden Days of Greece by the same author. That gave me some familiarity with the history. Reading this book next was perfect. These are wonderful stories based on the history that really bring it to life. IMO some of these are still a bit rough for our young kids, but when they are a little older and study ancient Greece, we will read these stories.