The Ancient Guide to Modern Life

by Haynes, Natalie

• ISBN13: 9781590206379
• ISBN10: 1590206371
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-05-12
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams

Summary

In times as turbulent as these, comedienne Natalie Haynes brings her scholarship, wit, and a deeply insightful eye to the topic of reexamining our classical past to have a richer present. She contends there are few things more encouraging than the realization that the Greeks and Romans lived in much tougher conditions than most of us do--like the thirty-year war in fifth-century BC Athens that almost wiped out two successive generations of young men. Yet the people living through these tumultuous times thrived--they created successful political models, they built empires, they created poetry and art, and they questioned the very nature of man's place in the world. Haynes bridges the gap between these seemingly archaic pieces of our history and the way our every day lives evolve, in politics, pop culture, history, making comparisons to such popular pieces of culture as the HBO series The Wire, as well as Obama's election to office--and she does it all with a unique and charming narrative that truly and seamlessly pulls history into the forefront of our lives. Our history doesn't belong in dusty classrooms and dog-eared textbooks, it belongs in our lives, teaching us how to live here and now, and Natalie Haynes makes realizing this important lesson a pleasure.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
Old World Order	p. 7
How Many Angry Men?	p. 32
Thinking Allowed	p. 62
In the Lap of the Gods	p. 91
Frankly, Medea, I Don't Give a Damn	p. 122
There's No Place Like Rome	p. 156
No Business Like Show-business	p. 186
The Price of Everything, the Value of Nothing	p. 218
Epilogue	p. 249
Acknowledgements	p. 255
Some Modern Guides to Ancient Life	p. 258
Index	p. 261
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