Tag Archives: Greece

A Thousand Ships

Posted on June 24, 2024 by smellincoffee

Sing, muse, of the confusion of Croseus, and of the anguish of Penthesilea! A Thousand Ships collects stories about the women of the Illiad — mostly of Troy, but of Achaea, too, across the wine-dark sea — and framed by … Continue reading →

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Mythos

Posted on June 21, 2024 by smellincoffee

This book will hold a record for the title it took me the longest to complete, as I’ve been listening to it off and on since fall 2021, attracted by both the premise and (chiefly) the narrator, Stephen Fry — … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics and Literary, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

The Lives of the Stoics

Posted on June 7, 2024 by smellincoffee

Some seventeen years ago I discovered The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius and the Discourses and Handbook of Epictetus. Neither men meant to publish these: the first was a private diary that was publically shared after the Emperor’s death, the second … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion and Philosophy, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Paul Among the People

Posted on March 14, 2023 by smellincoffee

Paul Among the People: The Apostle Reinterpreted and Reimagined in his Own Time© 2010 Sarah Ruden240 pages Although liberal Quaker Sarah Ruden had heard criticisms of Paul all her life,  after becoming familiar with the culture of the Greco-Roman world … Continue reading →

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Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants

Posted on September 7, 2021 by smellincoffee

Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants: Frequently Asked Questions about the Ancient Greeks and Romans© Garrett Ryan 288 pages For those interested in the life of Greece and Rome beyond senatorial politics and agricultural policy, Naked States offers an … Continue reading →

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Antiquity

Posted on September 10, 2018 by smellincoffee

Antiquity: The Civilization of the Ancient World© 2003 Norman F. Cantor256 pages Perhaps western history is all Greek to you. In that case, Norman Cantor’s Antiquity may shed a little light on the subject. It is a brief work, scarcely over … Continue reading →

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The Greeks

Posted on November 2, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Greeks© 1950 HDF Kitto256 pages HDF Kitto’s history of the Greeks came highly recommended to me by another author, and I found it utterly delightful.  Here we have history written not by an archaeologist, but by a classicist whose … Continue reading →

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The Wisdom of the Myths

Posted on March 7, 2016 by smellincoffee

Wisdom from the Myths: How Greek Mythology Can Change Your Life© 2014 Luc Ferry416 pages Well over a year or so ago, in a mood to read about the classical tradition, I happened upon Wisdom from the Myths: How Greek … Continue reading →

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Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations

Posted on August 30, 2015 by smellincoffee

Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations© 2013 Jules Evans320 pages  For most, philosophy is a subject that screams impotent academic prattle, the practice of strange individuals who are clearly paid too much to gaze into their navels and pontificate … Continue reading →

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Gates of Fire

Posted on November 27, 2014 by smellincoffee

Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae© 1998 Steven Pressfield442 pages When Xerxes, Ruler of Asia, god-king of men, finally stood over the bodies of the few Greeks who had withstood his hordes drawn from half … Continue reading →

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