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hollygraph's review
4.0
Wonderful overview of he Ancient Greek civilization and I loved how he covered a lot of time periods a that are normal skipped over.
alfia's review
4.0
Depressing but interesting take on Ancient Greece. Takeaways? No slaves, no "glory that was..". Women are dangerous livestock. Weakness invites predation. No matter how smart and well-meaning you are, if you don't have the right friends they can take you down and kill you. If you don't know about Milman Parry (google him - interesting!) and his contribution to the reinterpretation of Homeric myth, you'll learn something about that here. There's a super-quick synopsis of some of Greek philosophy. Otherwise a standard history of Ancient Greece, mostly about socio-political organization, economics, and wars.
Some new info for me:
- Solon of Athens was a pretty baller leader and the first guy to establish the beginnings of democratic rule of law in Greece, which he did by creating constituencies made up of *all* (non-slave, non-female) citizens, not just the richest guys. He also instituted economic and moral reforms which were apparently revolutionary for Ancient Greece.
- Hesiod (our primary source for info. on early Greek mythology) allegedly included a bunch of Middle Eastern (Semitic) myth into the stories about Zeus, i.e. many stories of Zeus's exploits came from elsewhere.
It made me sad thinking that there are no doubt many guys who read the creepy and misogynist (oh and violence-glorifying) garbage coming out of this culture and think, "Yeah, those were the good old days. Let's go back to *that*." *Shudder* That's not to say it's all creepy, misogynist, violence-glorifying garbage - obviously not - but this series of lectures certainly highlighted those aspects.
I listened to this as an audiobook. The narrator is a professor and he is a real hoot. I never knew that an Australian accent could sound so snooty! lol.
Some new info for me:
- Solon of Athens was a pretty baller leader and the first guy to establish the beginnings of democratic rule of law in Greece, which he did by creating constituencies made up of *all* (non-slave, non-female) citizens, not just the richest guys. He also instituted economic and moral reforms which were apparently revolutionary for Ancient Greece.
- Hesiod (our primary source for info. on early Greek mythology) allegedly included a bunch of Middle Eastern (Semitic) myth into the stories about Zeus, i.e. many stories of Zeus's exploits came from elsewhere.
It made me sad thinking that there are no doubt many guys who read the creepy and misogynist (oh and violence-glorifying) garbage coming out of this culture and think, "Yeah, those were the good old days. Let's go back to *that*." *Shudder* That's not to say it's all creepy, misogynist, violence-glorifying garbage - obviously not - but this series of lectures certainly highlighted those aspects.
I listened to this as an audiobook. The narrator is a professor and he is a real hoot. I never knew that an Australian accent could sound so snooty! lol.
eserafina42's review
5.0
A wonderful review of Greek culture and history by a lecturer who is both knowledgeable and passionate about his subject, and who is also not shy about highlighting the more problematic aspects of the culture he is discussing. On to his course about Alexander and the Hellenistic Age, since it's only available through the Plus Catalog through the end of this month!
vlodko62's review
4.0
Fantastic overview survey of ancient Greek history from Minoan Crete to Alexander the Great. Just enough of a basis to prepare for more in-depth study of specific periods, important events, wars and other developments. This is a great place to start! Jeremy McInerney is an excellent guide!
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