Pocket Greek Library – serie

Pythagoras (ca 585 BC 495 BC), a a philosopher, mathematician and musical theoretician wrote nothing down during the course of his life, not even the Theorem attributed to him. And yet his knowledge and wisdom changed the world, and have survived through the ages to benefit us today. The essence of Pythagoras teachings is contained in TheGolden Verses, seventy-one verses constituting guidelines on how to live. Functioning as admonitions, they link the human with the divine element and determine the point at which both converge to reveal how we might ourselves attain this supreme virtue in our everyday lives.

His poetry sings of the beauty of the natural world and offers a vision of the paradise that the world could be, but it is also imbued with a deep and painful awareness of the dark abyss that it threatens to become. For Vrettakos, the poet has a role to play in this struggle to determine the fate of the world. He is the champion of light and truth, the high priest of beauty, whose duty it is to celebrate the world, proclaiming the cosmic message of love as that which cuts paths across the darkness. He knows only too well, however, that the poets voice, like Gods, is seldom heeded. Works translated from Aeschylus; Aesop; Alexander The Great; Anaxagoras; Antisthenes; Aristotle; Aristophanes; Bias of Priene; Chilon of Sparta; Cleobulus of Lindos; Democritus; Demosthenes; Diogenes; Epicurus; Epictetus; Euripides; Heraclitus; Hesiod; Hippocrates; Homer; Isocrates; Menander; Periander; Pindar; Pittacus of Mytilene; Plato; Plutarch; Protagoras; Pythagoras; Socrates; Solon; Sophocles; Thales of Miletus; Theocritus; Thucydides; Xenophon; Zeno Of Citium.

Like the constellations in the sky, words such as aphrodisiac, hubris, museum, galaxy and mentor each contain within them a story, if only you knew to look closely. This collection retells the myths behind common words and expressions in English, bringing to life the heroes, monsters and gods whose deeds and battles have left a hidden mark on our language. Compiling more than seventy-five myths, the stories in this book feature well-known figures such as Zeus, Athena, Apollo, Hercules, Achilles, the Amazons, Medusa and the Minotaur. The entries are supplemented with original illustration reproductions of scenes from ancient pottery, and include translations from Ancient Greek epics such as the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Argonautica and Theogony.