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Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter
by Cahill, Thomas
- Used
- near fine
- Paperback
- Condition
- Near Fine
- ISBN 10
- 0385495544
- ISBN 13
- 9780385495547
- Seller
-
Webster, New York, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Nan A. Talese / Anchor Books, 2004. Reprint. Trade Paperback. Near Fine. 5x0x7. Reprint. Remainder mark. 2004 Trade Paperback. xii, 304 pp. "In Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea, his fourth volume to explore 'the hinges of history,' Thomas Cahill escorts the reader on another entertaining—and historically unassailable—journey through the landmarks of art and bloodshed that defined Greek culture nearly three millennia ago. In the city-states of Athens and Sparta and throughout the Greek islands, honors could be won in making love and war, and lives were rife with contradictions. By developing the alphabet, the Greeks empowered the reader, demystified experience, and opened the way for civil discussion and experimentation—yet they kept slaves. The glorious verses of the Iliad recount a conflict in which rage and outrage spur men to action and suggest that their 'bellicose society of gleaming metals and rattling weapons' is not so very distant from more recent campaigns of 'shock and awe.' And, centuries before Zorba, Greece was a land where music, dance, and freely flowing wine were essential to the high life. Granting equal time to the sacred and the profane, Cahill rivets our attention to the legacies of an ancient and enduring worldview.
Synopsis
In the fourth volume of the acclaimed Hinges of History series, Thomas Cahill brings his characteristic wit and style to a fascinating tour of ancient Greece. The Greeks invented everything from Western warfare to mystical prayer, from logic to statecraft. Many of their achievements, particularly in art and philosophy, are widely celebrated; other important innovations and accomplishments, however, are unknown or underappreciated. In Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea, Thomas Cahill explores the legacy, good and bad, of the ancient Greeks. From the origins of Greek culture in the migrations of armed Indo-European tribes into Attica and the Peloponnesian peninsula, to the formation of the city-states, to the birth of Western literature, poetry, drama, philosophy, art, and architecture, Cahill makes the distant past relevant to the present. Greek society is one of the two primeval influences on the Western world: While Jews gave us our value system, the Greeks set the foundation and framework for our intellectual lives. They are responsible for our vocabulary, our logic, and our entire system of categorization. They provided the intellectual tools we bring to bear on problems in philosophy, mathematics, medicine, physics, and the other sciences. Their modes of thinking, considered in classical times to be the pinnacle of human achievement, are largely responsible for the shape that the Christian religion took. But, as Cahill points out, the Greeks left a less appealing bequest as well. They created Western militarism and, in making the warrior the ultimate ideal, perpetrated the assumption that only males could be entrusted with the duties of citizenship. The consequences of their exclusion of women from the political sphere and the social segregation of the sexes continue to reverberate today. Full of surprising, often controversial, insights, Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea is a remarkable intellectual adventure--conducted by the most companionable guide imaginable. Cahill's knowledge of his sources is so intimate that he has made his own fresh translations of the Greek lyric poets for this volume.From the Hardcover edition.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Yesterday's Muse Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 2336867
- Title
- Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter
- Author
- Cahill, Thomas
- Format/Binding
- Trade Paperback
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- Reprint
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10
- 0385495544
- ISBN 13
- 9780385495547
- Publisher
- Nan A. Talese / Anchor Books
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 2004
- Size
- 5x0x7
- Keywords
- GREECE ANCIENT GREEK CULTURE HISTORY CLASSICAL STUDIES
- X weight
- 14 oz
Terms of Sale
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About the Seller
Yesterday's Muse Books
Biblio member since 2005
Webster, New York
About Yesterday's Muse Books
Yesterday's Muse Inc. is an independent used & rare bookseller that has been in operation for over 15 years. We opened our first 'brick and mortar' storefront in December of 2008 in our hometown of Webster, NY.Owner Jonathan Smalter is a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA), former vice president of the Independent Online Booksellers Association (IOBA), both of which are trade organizations created to promote ethical online selling practices, and to encourage continuing education among fellow booksellers. He is also a 2011 graduate of the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar (CABS). He has nearly 20 years of experience in the book trade, during which time he has become adept at evaluating used and collectible books.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Trade Paperback
- Used to indicate any paperback book that is larger than a mass-market paperback and is often more similar in size to a hardcover...
- Remainder Mark
- Usually an ink marking of some sort which indicates that the book was designated a remainder. In most cases, it can be found on...
- Reprint
- Any printing of a book which follows the original edition. By definition, a reprint is not a first edition.
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
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