From the leading scholars behind The Greek Plays, a collection of the best translations of the foremost early Greek historians, presenting a sweeping history of Ancient Greece by its first chroniclers.
The historians of Ancient Greece were pioneers of a new literary craft, and their work stands among the world's most enduring and important legacies and the foundation of a major discipline. This highly readable edition includes key selections from Herodotus-often called the "father of history"-Thucydides, Xenophon, and Plutarch, whose biographies drew on primary sources since lost to history. It collects their most popular, and most widely taught, work in a single, accessible volume. The stories included here chart the landmark events of Ancient Greece-the Persian War, Peloponnesian War, and the lives of Alexander the Great and Demetrius-and add up to a singular portrait of the Hellenic world.
The Greek historians were also the first to explore the possibilities of their craft, introducing, at the very dawn of the field, the concept that historical writing is far more than a chronicle of past events. Taken together, the Greek histories draw attention to each author's emphasis on religion, leadership, character, and the lessons to be drawn from war. How, for instance, should readers interpret Herodotus's inclusion of speeches and dialogues, dreams, and oracles as part of the "factual" record? What did Thucydides understand about human nature that (as he said) stays constant throughout time? How did Plutarch frame historical biography as a form of portraiture, a means of depicting the moral qualities of great men? Thucydides and Xenophon were also contemporaries of the eras they wrote about-the original word "historie" meaning "inquiry" -so their work provides a vital eyewitness account of turbulent times.
Complete with introductions to each historian, footnotes providing valuable context to Greek culture and language, and an appendix on the Greek military world, this volume is an invaluable resource for students and passionate readers of history alike. Mary Lefkowitz is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities emerita at Wellesley College. A recipient of the National Humanities Award, Lefkowitz is the author and editor of numerous articles and books, including Euripides and the Gods; Greek Gods, Human Lives: What We Can Learn from Myths; Women in Greek Myth; and Women's Life in Greece and Rome.
