The Ancient Greek World

A wise leader, defying tradition, boldly declares that free men of all classes have the right to vote. Nine sisters possess the power to inspire poetry. An entire community dedicates its way of life to raising and preparing its citizens to be fierce warriors. Solon, the Muses, and the Spartans are just a few of the intriguing figures who make up The Ancient Greek World.

Jennifer Roberts is Professor of Classics and History at the City College of New York and the City University of New York Graduate Center.
Tracy Barrett is the author of numerous books for young readers, including the award-winning Anna of Byzantium (Laureleaf, 2000) and Cold in Summer (Henry Holt, 2003). She teaches courses on writing for children and on children's literature and is on the faculty of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Cast of Characters

9

(3)

Map of Greek Settlements at the Death of Alexander the Great

12

(2)

Introduction: The Glory that Was Greece

14

(3)

Herodotus

Thucydides

What's A Greek? Greece and Greeks

17

(5)

Homer

Gods, Priests, and Oracles: Greek Religion

22

(6)

Homer

Mysterious Minoans: The Earliest Greeks

28

(7)

The Palace of Knossos

Thucydides

A Great Civilization Is Born: Mighty Mycenaeans

35

(5)

Linear B tablet from the Palace of Knossos

Always Look a Gift Horse in the Belly: The Trojan War

40

(5)

Homer

Hissarlik

Sing, Muse: Early Poets

45

(5)

Homer

Hesiod

Archilochus

Sappho

Greece Spreads Its Wings: Colonies and City-States

50

(6)

An inscription of a Greek law from Cyrene

Homer

Who's In Charge Here? The Rise of Athens

56

(6)

Solon

Herodotus

A popular Athenian song

``A Living Possession'': Slavery

62

(6)

Crates

Xenophon

Aristotle

Growing Up Greek: Greek Childhood

68

(5)

Aristotle

Plato

An epitaph for a little girl

``A Shadowy Existence'': The Women of Ancient Greece

73

(8)

Euripides

Plato

Homer

Hesiod

Semonides

Xenophon

Phintys

The Spartan Experiment: Daily Life in Ancient Sparta

81

(6)

Xenophon

Plutarch

Herodotus

Menander

``Woe to the Land of Persia!'': The Persian Empire and Its War with Greece

87

(6)

Herodotus

Aeschylus

``The Hands of the Many'': Democracy in Athens

93

(6)

Pericles

Isocrates

Aeschines

Hoplites and Triremes: Warfare

99

(6)

Tyrtaeus

Homer

Plutarch

Xenophon

Euripides

The Greek World War: The Peloponnesian War

105

(6)

Plutarch

Pericles

Xenophon

Take Two Vulture's Eggs and Call Me In The Morning: Science and Medicine

111

(7)

Plutarch

Hippocrates

``Freed From The Clash Of Arms'': The Olympic Games

118

(5)

Bacchylides

Athenaeus

Pausanias

Striving For Perfection: The Visual Arts

123

(7)

Aristotle

A Minoan drinking cup

Protagoras

Kleobis and Biton

The Parthenon

Polykleitos

``All The World's A Stage'': Greek Drama

130

(13)

Sophocles

137

Hyperides

Plato

Aristotle

How do we Know What We Know? Greek Philosophy

143

(5)

Socrates

Aristophanes

Two Philosophers: Plato and Aristotle

148

(6)

Plato

Aristotle

``A Pestilent Man'': Philip of Macedon

154

(5)

Isocrates

Demosthenes

Plutarch

Diodorus Siculus

Worlds To Conquer: Alexander the Great

159

(5)

Plutarch

Arrian

But is it Still Greek? The Hellenistic World

164

(7)

Altar of Zeus at Pergamum

Herodotus

Epilogue: The Greek Legacy

171

(5)

Timeline

176

(4)

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The Ancient Greek World

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials