Product Description

First published in 1999, this authoritative book describes the glorious era that lasted four generations, establishing Athens as the cradle of modern democracy and producing great men such as Plato and Socrates, whose ideas are still relevant today.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1254667 in Books
• Published on: 2000-06-01
• Original language: German
• Binding: Paperback
• 608 pages

Customer Reviews

An excellent and fascinating insight into 5th century athens
As a non-academic I found Christian Meier's history of Athens a compelling read. Although purporting only to be an account of Athens' Golden Age the book starts by defining the context in which an relatively unimportant polis came to dominate the surrounding city states and eventually of course to play a seminal role in the foundation of modern western thought, art and literature.

Like a story teller relating his narrative the scene is set: moving from the dark ages of the Golden Mycaenean age to the dark Homeric times the codifications of Draco and Solon and the democratic foundations that were Cleisthenes' legacy. Christian Meier style is very open and easy to read, and rich in quotes from many sources; Aeschylus to Sophocles; Aristotle to Xenophon: and a rich smattering of ancient Greek (for the erudite!) throughout the body of the text.

In a few places he does seem to deviate from the excellent chronology he presents and digresses into the ramifications of the Athenians' political actions. Generally these are a welcome examination of context, however occasionally they spill over into abject dullness, (but probably interesting to those writing essays etc)..

I found the personal thumbnail sketches of the protagonists in Athens history fascinating, and I was absolutely enthrawled at the description of every day life in Periclean Athens. This tome ends with the collapse of the Athenenian empire and the trial of Socrates, a tragedy worthy of Euripides himself and which provides a fitting climax for such a splendid work. I would certainly recommend this to my friends (the ones that haven't runaway when they hear the fateful words "In ancient Greece....").