The Ancient Greeks For Dummies

Part I: Travelling Back in Time.

Chapter 1: When, Where, What, Who? Meeting the Ancient Greeks.

Chapter 2: Encountering Prehistoric Civilisations: The Minoans and Mycenaeans.

Chapter 3: Shedding Light on Ancient Greece’s Dark Ages.

Chapter 4: Governing by Kings, Tyrants, and (Eventually) Democrats.

Chapter 5: Fighting and Warring: Greece Gets Heavy.

Chapter 6: East versus West: The Persian Wars.

Part II: Athens to Alexander: The Rise and Fall of Empires.

Chapter 7: Athens and Empire Building.

Chapter 8: Dealing with the Neighbours from Hell: The Peloponnesian War.

Chapter 9: Losing Their Way: The End of Classical Greece.

Chapter 10: Rising Quickly to the Top: Macedonia.

Chapter 11: Crowning the Undefeated Champion of the World: Alexander the Great.

Chapter 12: What Happened Next?

Part III: Living a Greek Life.

Chapter 13: Out in the Fields: Farming, Herding, and Travelling.

Chapter 14: Home and Family.

Chapter 15: Going About Daily Life in Ancient Greece.

Chapter 16: Plays and Pugilism: Enjoying Ancient Greek Entertainment.

Chapter 17: Depicting Men, Women, and Gods in Art.

Chapter 18: Building Beautiful Greek Architecture.

Part IV: Mythology, Religion, and Belief.

Chapter 19: Going Back to the Beginning: Myths and Gods.

Chapter 20: Blending Myth and History: Troy, Homer, and Heroes.

Chapter 21: Practising Everyday Religion: ‘A God Put It in My Heart to Say’.

Chapter 22: Trying to Figure Everything Out: Greek Philosophy.

Part V: The Part of Tens.

Chapter 23: Ten Great Greek Inventions.

Chapter 24: Ten Things to Read Next.

Chapter 25: Ten Dodgy Ancient Greek Characters.

Chapter 26: Ten Great Places to Visit.

Index.