This book is a survey of the history, literature, art, and philosophy of the ancient Greeks from the Bronze Age to the transformation of Greek culture during the Roman Empire. The author provides a concise narrative of Greek history and an analysis of major works of Greek literature, from Homer to Plutarch, highlighting the burst of intellectual creativity in classical Athens. The book places special emphasis on the key themes of Greek civilization: the public nature of Greek society, the relationship between the individual and the community, and the tension between myth and reason. Throughout, the narrative traces how Greek civilization has been continually reinvented, both in antiquity and in our own world. This accessible book is a perfect introduction to the world of the ancient Greeks and is specifically designed with the student in mind. It includes plentiful maps and illustrations, as well as timelines, a glossary, and annotated bibliography, to assist the reader in discovering the story of ancient Greek civilization.

David Sansone is Professor of Classics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He is the author of Aeschylean Metaphors for Intellectual Activity (1975), and Greek Athletics and the Genesis of Sport (1988), and the editor of Euripides: Iphigenia in Tauris (1981) and Plutarch – The Lives of Aristeides and Cato. He is on the Editorial Board of Illinois Classical Studies, of which he was the editor from 1993 to 2000, and on the Editorial Board of the journals Classical Philology and the Bryn Mawr Classical Review.