Culture of Ancient Greece?

Textkit Community Civilization and Culture of the Greeks and Romans
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I am looking for a good book that concentrates on culture, rather than politics, of Ancient Greece. Anybody have recommendations?

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Hi!

I can recommend you the book “24 Hours in Ancient Athens: A Day in the Life of the People Who Lived There” by Dr Philip Matyszak. This book is good if you want a readable, engaging book that paints a vivid picture of everyday life, social classes, culture, and the lived experience of ancient Athens.

I can also recommend you something more fictional. Mary Renault for example.

  1. The Last of the Wine — Great for Athens, everyday life, youth culture, philosophy, training, social norms.
  2. The Praise Singer — Excellent for exploring poetry, music, patronage, cultural flowering in Greece.
  3. The Mask of Apollo — Set in 4th century BCE, focuses on theatre, actor life, the arts in Greek society.

These 3 books are like 85% historically accurate.

You can also try Mary Renault’s trilogy on Alexander the Great. This is like 90% accurate. Her books have simplifies political details. I read a part of the trilogy and it is great,

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I’d recommend Handbook to Life in Ancient Greece by Lesley and Roy Adkins. I found that useful 20 something years ago, though I don’t know if anything better has supplanted it.

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