Readings in Greek History Sources and Interpretations

by Nagle, D. Brendan; Burstein, Stanley M.

• ISBN13: 9780195178241
• ISBN10: 0195178246
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-12-15
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

An ideal reader for courses in Greek history, Greek civilization, and Western civilization, this comprehensive collection of more than 180 historical source documents covers major aspects of Greek civilization from the Archaic Age through the end of the Hellenistic Period. Featuring a diverse and extensive array of selections from the works of major authors, Readings in Greek History: Sources and Interpretations offers balanced coverage of political, social, cultural, intellectual, economic, and technological developments in Greek life. It provides selections drawn from historical, philosophical, and oratorical Greek literary texts and from documentary sources, including inscriptions and papyri. Many of the readings have been newly translated especially for this volume.

Readings in Greek History: Sources and Interpretations is organized chronologically but also addresses various themes throughout--including religion, war, and gender relations--motivating students to explore essential historical topics from a variety of perspectives. Substantial introductions to each chapter and selection offer useful background information, while more than thirty photographs, images, and maps further illustrate key components of Greek culture.

Table of Contents

The origin and spread of the Polis system	p. 1
Greece in the second millennium B.C.	p. 2
Greek definitions of the Polis	p. 7
Greek life in the eight century B.C.	p. 10
Colonization and the expansion of the Polis system : the case of Cyrene	p. 21
Greeks and non-Greeks in the Greek colonies : the foundation of Lampsacus	p. 25
Greeks and Scythians in the Black Sea : coexistence and interaction	p. 26
The aristocratic warrior	p. 28
The hoplite revolution and the citizen soldier	p. 29
The hoplite Polis : Sparta	p. 33
The role of athletics	p. 40
The rise and fall of the Greek aristocracy in the archaic period	p. 43
Aristocratic privilege	p. 44
Aspects of aristocratic life at its peak	p. 46
Heroic athletics : the chariot race at Patroclus' funeral games	p. 49
The aristocracy and its international connections	p. 53
The crisis of the aristocracy	p. 55
The Persian wars	p. 67
The Persian empire	p. 69
The Persian wars	p. 73
The second Persian invasion of 480 B.C.	p. 81
Life in the Polis	p. 98
The household : family relations	p. 101
Household management	p. 110
Slaves and slavery	p. 117
The Polis and the household	p. 123
Religion in the classical Polis	p. 131
War and warfare in the Polis	p. 137
The place of warfare in the Polis : some philosophical reflections	p. 142
The Peloponnesian War and the military revolution	p. 145
The rise of Athens	p. 147
The Delian league	p. 150
The Athenian empire	p. 153
Opposition to the Peloponnesian War at Athens	p. 177
Defeat and hard times : Athens after the Peloponnesian War	p. 179
The military revolution	p. 183
Intellectual developments in the classical age : the Physis/Nomos debate	p. 189
The conventionalist argument	p. 191
The naturalist argument	p. 195
The threat of Socrates	p. 199
Socrates' defense : "I shall obey God rather than you"	p. 203
Diogenes the cynic	p. 206
The fourth century	p. 209
The decline and fall of Sparta	p. 210
The crisis of the Polis in fourth-century B.C. Greece	p. 221
The periphery of the Greek world	p. 230
Philip II and the emergence of Macedon	p. 238
The reign of Alexander the Great : Alexander and the Greeks	p. 246
Alexander and Egypt	p. 250
Alexander and the non-Greeks	p. 255
The challenges of Alexander	p. 257
What was Alexander? : saint or demon?	p. 263
The hellenistic age	p. 267
A new world	p. 268
Alexandria and the colonial world of hellenistic Egypt	p. 272
Cultural contact : ptolemaic Egypt	p. 279
Cultural contact : Bactria and India	p. 283
Culture clash : Jewish resistance to hellenism	p. 286
Jewish life in the diaspora	p. 290
Opportunities and social roles in the hellenistic period	p. 291
The coming of Rome	p. 301
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