About this title: Most ancient cultures disappeared with scarcely a trace, their effect upon our modern way of life of little consequence. The Greeks, however, continue to influence contemporary man through their drama, philosophy and art, their political cognizance and knowledge of science. There are many books introducing the Greek world to the modern reader, but this volume was recognized as a classic in the field upon its publication by Penguin Books. It now appears in a new paperback edition, with a new preface by the author and 32 pages of photographs selected especially for the American reader. "The ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: Fair. No dust jacket as issued. Wear and tear from age. 256 p. : ill.; 18 cm. Includes Illustrations. "First published 1951. " Includes index. read more
Edition: Later Printing
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Penguin, U.K.
Date Published: 1968
Description: Good. No Jacket. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Some underlining and highlighting, not too excessive. Light shelf wear. Solid copy with clean pages. read more
Description: Good. No Jacket as Issued. Scuffing and wear to the covers. Previous owners name on the front page. A few highlightings and underlinings to the first fifteen pages, otherwise clean. Nice reading copy. read more
Binding: Perfect Bound Paper
Publisher: Penguin
Date Published: 1966
Description: Fair to Good. No Jacket as Issued. Small Trade Paperback. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" Heavy wear, underlinging/highlighting. (Store Display-History) read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books, Baltimore
Date Published: 1967
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Highlighting/underlining. softcover; solid binding; marking or highlighting within text; cover edges & corners worn; fold in front cover; previous owner name on cover page; VB64. 256 p. illus. 18cm. Pelican books, A220.. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Pelican Book, Many
Date Published: 1972
Description: Cover Art. Reading Copy. No Jacket. Paperback. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. The book has light shelf wear......Light yellowing to the pages.....Reading copy rated from good to very fine. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Pelican Book, Many
Date Published: 1969
Description: Cover Art. Reading Copy. No Jacket. Paperback. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. The book has light shelf wear with creases......Light yellowing to the pages.....Reading copy rated from good to very fine. read more
"This is a very accessible, yet informative and academic introduction to the country. It served me well to have read it just prior to visiting Greece."
"This book is the one that really caught my imagination and fired me up about the Greeks. Kitto has a truly infectious love of the era and the people to whom we owe so much of what we now call our civilization. Always interesting, at times he takes my breath away and brings tears to my eyes. How I would have loved to have him as a teacher! To him I trace my passion for The Iliad and my love for Homer in general. I also gained an appreciation for how terse an expressive languages can be which have many cases. Word order becomes quite free and allows emphasis to be placed easily, since the place of subject, object, direct object etc. are noted by these declensions.
An example in English might be the line...
"They run from me that sometime did me seek"
It's quite expressive to end with and emphasize the word "seek" here, which is only possible because "me" is automatically the object being sought. In English we retain a few of these cases in pronouns only. Languages like Greek (and Russian, I just discovered) have them on many more words including nouns, adjectives, etc. It gives them the ability to express things very powerfully and concisely.
Anyway, this is one of my favorite books of all time, and I'm so grateful to Kitto for introducing me to and infecting me with his love of the Hellenic world."
"A loving book. What I most clearly remember is his description of himself sitting in an armchair by a fire (did he mention slippers?) writing the book. He supposed that a good old Greek would've scorned such a sedentary monotone existence; in a proper Greek balance, thought should be accompanied with rigorous movement, walking miles in bare feet, that sort of thing. He seemed to chuckle at the idea, but then he obviously adores it as well - the inconsistency made me sad"
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