The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ancient Greece

by Eric D. Nelson, Susan K. Allard Nelson

The incredible influence of Ancient Greek culture on everything from science to literature to politics continues to be relevant—and hotly debated. In The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ancient Greece , you are invited to meet the Ancient Greeks and to understand their legacy by entering their world.

• Profiles the most important contributions of Greek culture, including mythology, philosophy, medicine, and the Olympic games
• Includes further reading and travel information to help in planning a personal Odyssey

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Mythology

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 4, 2005

Reviews

[Constantine]

A

[Haley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is absolutely brilliant for everyone who wants to know more about ancient Greece. Greek culture has always been something I've been interested in, but most of the stuff I'd learned before had only been about the Greek myths. This book just touches on Greek myths. The large majority of the book is focused on Greek history and culture. Greek culture obviously involves the Greek myths, but there's so much more to it than that. There was so much in this book that I had never known before. There was so much of Greek culture that I had never known because most of what I'd read before had only been centered around Greek myth.

I also had no idea about most of the Greek history. Ancient Greece really does have a very interesting history, and the book presented it in a way that was very easy to understand, which was nice. The history could have been presented in a very confusing way since there were so many various city-states and empires and other things over the course of Greek history. The book does a really good job of helping you keep track of who's who, and there are maps that really helped me figure out where each group was from.

This book is definitely a great read for anyone interested in the subject. It's made me want to go out and learn even more about ancient Greece.

http://hmweasley-blog.blogspot.com/20...

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

The problem is that this book is trying to be two things at once - a resource book to be used as a quick reference (When was Alexander the Great born? What did the Epicureans believe?) or is it a basic history of the Ancient Greeks? Other books in the series that I have reviewed, such as The Complete Idiot's Guide to World Religions were clearly meant to be a quick reference guide.

So, as a history, this is sort of a frustrating read. The story of the Ancient Greeks is told in fits and starts. As a quick reference, it is good. The facts are solid and told in an understandable, interesting manner. I wasn't using it as a quick reference, rather I was reviewing the topic so as to be better prepared for the next time I teach ancient history. You can never tell what interesting tidbits you can pick up to spice up your presentations - even from the most basic of sources. For example, I learned that King Pyrrhus - the king that inspired the term "pyrrhic victory" was killed by a woman that threw a pot out of her window during a street battle (although further research shows that some claim he was only stunned by a roofing tile and this allowed him to be killed by a soldier. Either way, it's a good story).

So, as a narrative history - this is a 3 star book. As a reference, it is a 5 star book. So, split the difference and call it 4 stars out of 5.

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

OH my gosh, so many place names. I knew only a bit about Ancient Greece and wanted to put all those bits together, make some chronological sense. This is a good book for taking a deep dive in many areas of pre-AD Greece. I felt that a series of maps would have been helpful. A timeline. Anything. The detailed descriptions with so many names were unbelievably difficult to keep straight.

A good book if you want to know more about the political, religious, domestic, intellectual, and artistic worlds of Ancient Greece.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is like the answer to your questions if you love classical stuff and ancient history. I recommend reading Ancient Greece before you read anything about the Romans, the Roman Empire or their history; just so it goes in the natural order.

[Tammie Painter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is informative, butt he attempts at humor fall a bit flat. I know the humor is thrown in to match the Complete Idiot style, but when you're not funny, you're just not funny. Still, a decent resource if you want an overview of Ancient Greece.

[Venus Blancia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why does everyone so interested with the Greeks? Well, well. Beware of the Greeks bearing gifts! You might like them. Ha.ha. Information overload. I need to get back to Percy!