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The Oxford History of Greece and the Hellenistic World [Paperback]

John Boardman (Editor), Jasper Griffin (Editor), Oswyn Murray (Editor)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)


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The Oxford History of Greece & the Hellenistic World The Oxford History of Greece & the Hellenistic World 4.2 out of 5 stars (9)
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Book Description

0192852477 978-0192852472 November 14, 1991 Revised
From the epic poems of Homer through the glittering art and architecture of Greece's Golden Age to the influential Roman systems of law and leadership, the classical world established the foundations of our culture as well as many of its most enduring achievements. Now available in a smaller, more convenient format, the astonishingly in-depth and widely praised Oxford History of the Classical World offers the general reader the definitive companion to the Graeco-Roman world.
The first volume, Classical Greece and the Hellenistic World, covers the period from the eighth to the first centuries B.C., a period unparalleled in history for its brilliance in literature, philosophy, and the visual arts. It also treats the Hellenization of the Middle East by the monarchies established in the area conquested by Alexander the Great.
The second volume, Classical Rome, covers early Rome and Italy, the expansion of the Roman republic, the foundation of the Roman Empire by Augustus, its consolidation in the first two centuries A.D., and the later Empire and its influence on Western civilization.
The editors, John Boardman, Jasper Griffen, and Oswyn Murray--all eminent classicists--intersperse chapters on political and social history with sections on literature, philosophy, and the arts, and reinforce the historical framework with maps and historical charts. The two volumes also offer bibliographies and a full index, as well as black and white photographs integrated into the text.
The contributors--thirty of the world's leading scholars--present the latest in modern scholarship through masterpieces of wit, brevity, and style. While concentrating on the aspects essential to the understanding of each period, they also focus on those elements of the classical world that remain of lasting importance and interest to readers today. Together, these volumes provide both a provocative and entertaining window into our classical heritage.


Editorial Reviews

Review

`From reviews of The Oxford History of the Classical World: the book is truly excellent the standard of the contributions is extraordinarily high ' Observer

` this book has no equal and would be difficult to better ' Books and Bookmen --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author


About the Editors:
John Boardman is Lincoln Professor of Classical Archaeology and Art and Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford University. Jasper Griffin is Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford and author of Homer on Life and Death. Oswyn Murray is Fellow of Balliol College and author of Early Greece.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 536 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; Revised edition (November 14, 1991)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0192852477
  • ISBN-13: 978-0192852472
  • Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,225,162 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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78 of 84 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect volume for any lover of history., January 29, 2005
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The Oxford History of Greece and the Hellenisic World is a perfect primer for ancient Greek studies on history, literature, philosophy and art, but it is also a great read for the casual history and literature buff (which is the reason I read it!) Spanning from the Archaic Period, with Homer and Hesiod, through the Classical period with Aeschylus and Euripides, to the curious Hellenistic world: a world of three empires (The Antigonids of Macedon, the Seleucids of Western Turkey through to Afghanistan, and the Ptolemies of Egypt) where the Roman influence was penetrating an already crumbled empire unable to defend itself against Roman cultural and military pressures. The Greeks still adopted the slow, inflexible, easily flanked and routed phalanx - no match for the Roman Legions which would soon topple almost all of the three empires.

I must make special mention of certain essays. (This volume is a collection of essays by experts in their fields: as such, some sections are better than others.) The histories are absolutely brilliant, enlightening and fascinating. The discussion of literature is a mixed bag, however. One of my favourite essays is one on Homer's poetry. It must be read to be believed - wonderful stuff. However, the chapter on Elegaic and Lyric Poetry I found to be inaccessible. I study English, and a lot of the discussion went far too deep, far too fast, and, coupled with a piecemeal historical background to be considered, the chapter turned to dust. It is certainly worth reading, but it by far the weakest chapter. The chapters on philosophy were, in fact, my favourite - sitting right up top with Homer. These chapters were probably the only truly "riveting" moments in the book, because the themes they deal with are so large, and the evolution so fascinating. The sections on mythology and religion are solid and informative. Thankfully art and architecture are not neglected, and the chapters concerning their evolution and influence are interesting, if not a little bit too far away from my sphere of interest. The depiction of the various deities and the like, however, was great and complemented the religious chapters well.

The maps and the historical chart (detailing events both social and cultural) are the best I have ever seen in a single paperback volume. The selected readings at the end of each chapter are both comprehensive and accessible, so full marks there. It is a small pity that there isn't a glossary of useful greek terms, but that is of little consequence and does nothing to tarnish this brilliant gem.

It pains me a bit to see that this book has only one review (now two) to it's name. It deserves to be read. As is said in the introduction of this book: "To see that such things can be true of people whom in some ways we find intelligible and recognizable can help to deliver us from the tyranny of the present, from the assumption that our own habits of action and thought are really inescapable, and from the idea that there are no alternatives. That is the liberating power of the past." (Boardman, p.8)

The past liberates us from ourselves and should not be forgotten. This is something I passionately believe, and I am not even a historian.

It is needless to say but I will say it anyway: buy this book and any other Oxford history you can find - or Cambridge history for that matter - and absorb it all. The details are not important the first time through, just withhold the themes and the power that comes from reading about a culture alive only in museums and through fragmented customs and throwbacks; of a people extinct or bred out of existence; and of a history lived before our current means of measuring time existed (this was long before the advent of the Julian Calender.)

I am rambling.

Buy. Read. Enjoy.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The value of this book is high, February 6, 2007
A Kid's Review
Whether you're a newcomer to Greek history or someone who has already studied diverse segments of it looking to organize your knowledge, this book will be an aid. It is essentially an overview of the main studies - aka, philosophy, literature, politics, military, eras, etc. That said, as it is a compilation of all these diverse things, it tends to become less specialist and more general (big picture). That is why people who are intensely interested in Greek history would be better off buying books specializing in different parts of it, then buying this book to clarify and put into context what you've learned from those other sources. Newcomers can make use of it too, but there will undoubtedly be parts they won't be able to make sense of due to their inexpertise. By and large, however, this book is accessible and to varrying degrees useful to professionals, amateurs, longtime students, and newcomers alike - providing they can tolerate academic language.



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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Preliminary review, May 14, 2011
I am going to update this review, but so far the outlook is bleak. Given, this is the 1988 publication, but I have found very little grace in terms of style. Here is one example from pg. 33...

"Of Athens we can only say that Cleisthenes' legislation came in time to avoid trouble and that it was enough in accord with what was wanted to allow Athenians to do what later they did."

As an undergrad student I have written sentences far clearer and more concise than that and STILL had to re-write it. I would recommend a copy of Strunk & White's, "The Elements of Style" to whomever wrote the first chapter. This is not the only case, but a good example of cluttered writing.

Another problem I have noticed is the lack of clarity the author presents between his own opinion and the paradigm of the ancient Greeks. On top of pg. 31, the author refers to the tyrant as a "disease," and that a relative of Solon became "infected" by it. Now, if the ancient Greeks saw "tyranny" as a disease, then the author simply needs to re-write the entire paragraph to clarify that point. However, if he himself sees tyranny as a disease, he needs to stop projecting his 20th century moral preconditions into antiquity and just report facts.

Again, this is a preliminary review, but things have gotten off to a really bad start, I shall revise and edit if things shape up toward the middle.
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FOR most historians the characteristic and peculiar element in Greek political life has been the polis, the city-state, an institution of which any precise definition obscures the variety in size or shape or social and political organization. Read the first page
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Asia Minor, Peloponnesian War, New York, Alexander the Great, Further Reading, Athenian Empire, Black Sea, Near East, Bronze Age, New Academy, King's Peace, Loeb Classical Library, Middle East, Old Testament, Persian Wars, King Oedipus, Middle Ages, Peloponnesian League, Persian Empire, Classical Greek Philosophy, Dark Ages, Herodotus of Halicarnassus, Old Stoa, Persian Gulf, Corinthian War
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