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Wow, I have done something I haven't done for years. Read a book from cover to cover in one night. I loved this. I was wandering around Bicester library on Wednesday and picked this up. It looked fun and an easy idiot's guide to all things ' Ancient Greek' and well to say I have devoured it is an understatement. I loved it. Charlotte Higgins has bought the Greek world alive for me and placed it in an accessible relevant , enjoyable context.
So many books are based on Greek myths and ideas so sublimally I already knew a bit of this stuff. But to access so much in such a handy guide was brilliant.
I especially loved the descriptions of Homer's classics the Illiad and the Odyssey and the concise outline of the amazing story behind Oedipus. ( I'm reading a book on the background of Achilles at the moment and I thought browsing through this could help me understand more but it has done far more than that.)
I loved the Titan and the Olympian gods feuding and how everyone plays dark tricks on each other. Tantalus chopping up his son into little bits to feed to the gods was total psychotic comedy.
My favourite quote was
'Don't call a man happy until he's dead'
Before today I have always misinterpreted this quote to mean that life is so shit that the only good thing to do is die. (Twisted I admit.) Im so glad I now know the real meaning which is that life is so full of twists and turns that our happiness factor can change at any time. We must never presume that things will stay the same and get too smug or too depressed. Life is an open book until obviously we cease to exist. I much prefer the proper interpretation!
In fact that is what hit me most about this book. The way the Greeks expressed this randomness of life. Excepting love, pain, loss, war, dying young, unfairness and fairness. Greek gods lived for ever squabbling and watching humans as if from a VIP box in Wembley stadium but humans live a charmed short life full of many ups and downs.
I have focussed on the myths and plays but this book also covered the beginnings of western democracy, politics, science, and philosophy. The first history/travel books of Heredotus and the beginning of recorded misogyny, the hatred/ fear of women. Spartans were the only girls to get an education and also join the army, whereas Athenian woman were mostly under house arrest.
Yes, I loved this book. Funny, uplifting and informative. Filling lots of holes in my non-classical education!
