Hellenistic History and Culture - Hellenistic Culture and Society by Peter Green Paperback

Book Synopsis

In a 1988 conference, American and British scholars unexpectedly discovered that their ideas were converging in ways that formed a new picture of the variegated Hellenistic mosaic. That picture emerges in these essays and eloquently displays the breadth of modern interest in the Hellenistic Age.

A distrust of all ideologies has altered old views of ancient political structures, and feminism has also changed earlier assessments. The current emphasis on multiculturalism has consciously deemphasized the Western, Greco-Roman tradition, and Nubians, Bactrians, and other subject peoples of the time are receiving attention in their own right, not just as recipients of Greco-Roman culture.

History, like Herakleitos' river, never stands still. These essays share a collective sense of discovery and a sparking of new ideas--they are a welcome beginning to the reexploration of a fascinatingly complex age.

Review Quotes

"The papers are without exception highly accomplished and beautifully written. . . . I cannot think of any collection of essays I have read through with such pleasure."--Seth Schwartz, "Times Literary Supplement

About the Author

Peter Green is Dougherty Centennial Professor of Classics at the University of Texas, Austin. Novelist and scholar, his recent books include Alexander of Macedon, 356-323 B.C. (California, 1991), Alexander to Actium (California, 1990), and The Laughter of Aphrodite (California, 1993).