Thomas Cahill
Paperback | Pages: 352 pages Rating: 3.77 | 2755 Users | 264 Reviews
Declare Epithetical Books Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter (The Hinges of History #4)
| Title | : | Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter (The Hinges of History #4) |
| Author | : | Thomas Cahill |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 352 pages |
| Published | : | July 27th 2004 by Anchor (first published 2003) |
| Categories | : | History. Nonfiction. Cultural. Greece. Ancient History. Philosophy |
Commentary Conducive To Books Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter (The Hinges of History #4)
In the fourth volume of the acclaimed Hinges of History series, Thomas Cahill brings his characteristic wit and style to a fascinating tour of ancient Greece.The Greeks invented everything from Western warfare to mystical prayer, from logic to statecraft. Many of their achievements, particularly in art and philosophy, are widely celebrated; other important innovations and accomplishments, however, are unknown or under-appreciated. In Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea, Thomas Cahill explores the legacy, good and bad, of the ancient Greeks. From the origins of Greek culture in the migrations of armed Indo-European tribes into Attica and the Peloponnesian peninsula, to the formation of the city-states, to the birth of Western literature, poetry, drama, philosophy, art, and architecture, Cahill makes the distant past relevant to the present.
Greek society is one of the two primeval influences on the Western world: While Jews gave us our value system, the Greeks set the foundation and framework for our intellectual lives. They are responsible for our vocabulary, our logic, and our entire system of categorization. They provided the intellectual tools we bring to bear on problems in philosophy, mathematics, medicine, physics, and the other sciences. Their modes of thinking, considered in classical times to be the pinnacle of human achievement, are largely responsible for the shape that the Christian religion took. But, as Cahill points out, the Greeks left a less appealing bequest as well. They created Western militarism and, in making the warrior the ultimate ideal, perpetrated the assumption that only males could be entrusted with the duties of citizenship. The consequences of their exclusion of women from the political sphere and the social segregation of the sexes continue to reverberate today. Full of surprising, often controversial, insights, Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea is a remarkable intellectual adventure—conducted by the most companionable guide imaginable. Cahill’s knowledge of his sources is so intimate that he has made his own fresh translations of the Greek lyric poets for this volume.
Specify Books Concering Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter (The Hinges of History #4)
| Original Title: | Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter |
| ISBN: | 0385495544 (ISBN13: 9780385495547) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | The Hinges of History #4 |
Rating Epithetical Books Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter (The Hinges of History #4)
Ratings: 3.77 From 2755 Users | 264 ReviewsCritique Epithetical Books Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter (The Hinges of History #4)
I question some of the scholarship in this book.I guess you could say this is a Time Life version of Greek history, not great, not terrible. One strong positive though is Cahill's style of offering on page tidbits in the form of inserts, sort of a magazine style factoid. Some of those actually add to the narrative somewhat. For whatever reason, it seems like he is writing 'down' to the reader. I don't think it is necessarily intentional. But it is a little annoying. For example, he writes 'A legendary figure called Thespis (whence thespian)
A very good, short, overview of Greek culture for those of us who haven't been introduced through school, or have only seen a few references to myths that we don't quite understand. And for those of us who _are_ students of Greek (and, by association, Roman) history, it draws some interesting conclusions, and allows us to step back somewhat from the slightly narrower focus of university courses and see certain aspects of Greek (or I should say, rather, Athenian, for the most part) culture in its
Quite a window into the Greek world. Yes, there were things to appreciate, such as the common soldier's view that he should have a say in how, for example, the siege of Troy should be conducted. What was most eye-opening, however, were the differences between our world and theirs. For example, how women were treated. Apparently, the female flute player was expected as part of the evening's entertainment - naked, of course. The feasts were apparently all-male events. Well, almost all male.It was
Pure, unadulterated garbage. Cahill is not even an historian or a classicist. He aims these books at those unfamiliar with the subject matter, and then treats his audience like idiots. He has no respect for those reading the book, or the civilization he is writing about. He is arrogant and condescending. To use his own words, he is "bellicose, close-minded, pig-headed and absurd". He actually used these very words to describe either those who may not agree with his interpretation, or the Greeks
A look at Greek literature, poetry, political experiments, art and philosophy and how their attitudes and approaches to life...especially their insatiable curiosity....helped develop Western Civilization.
I am a big fan of Cahill's Hinges of History Series, having read the first three before reading this one. I found that this was my least favorite. The writing is still engaging and touches on the lasting effects the culture had on Western civilization, as in the first three books, but there was less Cahill here. There was a lot of Homer, a touch of Sappho, a lot of Plato, a bunch of Sophocles and Aeschylus, some Eurypides, and a big chunk of Pericles. Those of us who have read these classical
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