The Greeks

Ian Morris is the Jean and Rebecca Willard Professor of Classics at Stanford University.Barry B. Powell is the Halls-Bascom Professor of Classics Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The Greeks is quite simply the best introduction available to the ancient Hellenes, whose contributions to modern civilization are exceptional in their creativity and scope, from philosophy to democracy and from the invention of the alphabet to that of the analog computer. The authors' breadth of vision and insight is based on a thoroughly interdisciplinary approach that embraces art, archaeology, history, language, society, ecology, literature, and the contributions of the ancient Near East. Their clarity of judgement and sureness of touch make this book a reliable guide to a part of humanity's past without which we cannot understand our present or shape our future."-Richard Janko, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

• MapsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsAbout the AuthorsTimelinePronunciation Guide 1. A Small, Far-Off LandHistorical SketchWhy Study the Greeks?Who Were the Greeks?The Structure of This Book: History, Culture, and SocietyKey Terms Further Reading2. Country and PeopleGreek Geography, Climate, and AgricultureDemographyMigrationHealth and DiseaseNutritionEconomic Growth in Ancient GreeceKey Terms Further Reading3. The Greeks at HomeGender Relationships: Ideals and RealitiesSexualityAdults and ChildrenKey Terms Further Reading4. The Greeks Before History, 12,000-1200 BCThe End of the Last Ice Age, 13,000-9500 BCThe Origins of Agriculture, 9500-5000 BCNeolithic Society and Economy, 5000-3000 BCThe Early Bronze Age, 3000-2300 BCThe Middle Bronze Age, 2300-1800 BCThe Age of Minoan Palaces, 2000-1600 BCThe Rise of Mycenaean Greece, 1750-1500 BCThe End of Minoan Civilization, 1600-1400 BCMycenaean Greece: Archaeology, Linear B, and HomerThe End of the Bronze Age, c. 1200 BCKey Terms Further Reading5. The Dark Age, 1200-800 BCThe Collapse of the Old StatesLife Among the RuinsDark Age "Heroes"Art and Trade in the Dark AgeThe Eighth-Century BC Renaissance: EconomyThe Eighth-Century BC Renaissance: SocietyThe Eighth-Century BC Renaissance: CultureConclusionKey Terms Further Reading6. HomerThe Homeric QuestionMilman Parry and Oral PoetryThe Oral Poet in HomerHeinrich Schliemann and the Trojan WarThe Tragic IliadHomer and the Invention of PlotThe Comic OdysseyOdysseus and HomerKey Terms Further Reading7. Religion and MythDefinitions of Religion and MythHesiod's Myth of the Origin of the GodsGreek Religion in HistoryForms of Greek Religious PracticeHesiod's Myth of SacrificeGods and Other Mysterious BeingsChthonic ReligionThe Ungrateful Dead and the Laying of the GhostEcstatic and Mystical ReligionConclusionKey Terms Further Reading8. Archaic Greece, 800-480 BC: Economy, Society, PoliticsGovernment by OligarchyElite CultureThe TyrantsThe Structure of Archaic StatesConclusionKey Terms Further Reading9. The Archaic Cultural Revolution, 800-480 BCNatural Philosophy in MiletusPythagoras: Philosophy and Social Science in the WestHecataeus, Herodotus, and HistoriêLyric PoetryMaterial CultureArt and Thought in Sixth-Century BC GreeceKey Terms Further Reading10. A Tale of Two Archaic Cities: Sparta and Athens, 800-480 BCSpartaSpartiates, Perioikoi, and HelotsPlutarch's SpartaSpartan GovernmentAthensThe Seventh-Century bc CrisisSolonPisistratus and the Consequences of Solon's ReformsDêmokratiaAthens Submits to PersiaKey Terms Further Reading11. Persia and the Greeks, 550-490 BCEmpires of the Ancient Near EastCyrus and the Rise of Persia, 559-530 BCCambyses and Darius, 530-521 BCPersia's Northwest Frontier and the Ionian Revolt, 521-494 BCThe Battle of Marathon, 490 BCKey Terms Further Reading12. The Great War, 480-479 BCStorm Clouds in the WestStorm Clouds in the EastThe Storm Breaks in the West: The Battle of Himera, 480 BCThe Storm Breaks in the East: The Battle of Thermopylae, 480 BCThe Fall of AthensThe Battle of SalamisThe End of the Storm: Battles of Plataea and Mycale, 479 BCConclusionKey Terms Further Reading13. Democracy and Empire: Athens and Syracuse, 479-431 BCThe Expansion of the Syracusan State, 479-461 BCThe Western Democracies, 461-433 BCEconomic Growth in Western Greece, 479-433 BCCimon and the Creation of the Athenian Empire, 478-461 BCThe First Peloponnesian War, 460-446 BCPericles and the Consolidation of Athenian Power, 446-433 BCEconomic Growth in the AegeanThe Edge of the Abyss, 433-431 BCKey Terms Further Reading14. Art and Thought in the Fifth Century BCPhilosophyMaterial CultureKey Terms Further Reading15. Fifth-Century BC DramaTragedyThe City DionysiaThe Theater of DionysusNarrative StructureCharacter and Other Dimensions of TragedyTragic PlotsConclusionThe Origins of ComedyThe Plots of Old ComedyThe Structures of Old ComedyConclusionKey Terms Further Reading16. The Peloponnesian War and Its Aftermath, 431-399 BCThe Archidamian War, 431-421 BCThe Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition, 421-413 BCSicily and the Carthaginian War, 412-404 BCThe Ionian War, 412-404 BCAftermath, 404-399 BCConclusionKey Terms Further Reading17. The Greeks Between Persia and Carthage, 399-360 BCSparta's Empire, 404-360 BCEconomy, Society, and WarSparta's Collapse, 371 BCAnarchy in the Aegean, 371-360 BCCarthage and Syracuse, 404-360 BCThe Golden Age of Syracuse, 393-367 BCAnarchy in the West, 367-345 BCConclusionKey Terms Further Reading18. Greek Culture in the Fourth Century BCMaterial CulturePlatoAristotleConclusionKey Terms Further Reading19. Philip and Alexander the Great, Warlords of MacedonMacedonia Before Philip IIPhilip's Struggle for Survival, 359-357 BCPhilip Consolidates His Position, 357-352 BCPhilip Seeks a Greek Peace, 352-346 BCThe Struggle for a Greek Peace, 346-338 BCPhilip's End, 338-336 BCAlexander the KingThe Conquest of Persia, 334-330 BCKey Terms Further Reading20. Alexander the GodThe Fall of the Great King Darius, 331-330 BCAlexander in the East, 330-324 BCWar in India, 327-326 BCThe Long March Home, 326-324 BCThe Last Days, 324-323 BCConclusionKey Terms Further Reading21. The Greek Kingdoms in the Hellenistic Century, 323-220 BCThe Wars of the Successors, 323-301 BCThe Hellenistic World After the Battle of IpsusThe Seleucid EmpirePtolemaic EgyptThe Antigonids: MacedoniaConclusionKey Terms Further Reading22. The Greek Poleis in the Hellenistic Century, 323-220 BCImpoverishment and Depopulation in Mainland GreeceAthens in DeclineSparta's CounterrevolutionThe Western Greeks: Agathocles of Syracuse (361-289/8 BC)Pyrrhus of EpirusHellenistic Society: The Weakening of EgalitarianismConclusionKey Terms Further Reading23. Hellenistic Culture, 323-30 BCHellenistic HistoriansPoetryMaterial CultureHellenistic PhilosophyMedicineQuantitative Science in the Hellenistic AgeConclusionKey Terms Further Reading24. The Coming of Rome, 220-30 BCThe Rise of Rome, 753-280 BCRome, Carthage, and the Western Greeks, 280-200 BCRome Breaks the Hellenistic Empires, 200-167 BCConsequences of the Wars: The GreeksConsequences of the Wars: The RomansRome's Military RevolutionThe Agony of the Aegean, 99-70 BCPompey's Greek Settlement, 70-62 BCThe End of Hellenistic Egypt, 61-30 BCAftermathKey Terms Further Reading25. ConclusionThe Bronze Age (ca. 3000-1200 BC; Chapter 4)The Dark Age (ca. 1200-800 BC; Chapter 5)The Archaic Period (c. 800-480 BC; Chapters 6-10)The Classical Period (c. 480-323 BC; Chapters 11-18)The Macedonian Takeover (c. 350-323 BC; Chapters 19-22)The Hellenistic Period (c. 323-30 BC; Chapters 22-24)ConclusionCreditsIndex and Glossary