The Classical World (100 page)

Jasper Griffin,
Homer on Life and Death
(1980) is a classic; Jasper Griffin,
Homer: The Odyssey
(1987), a good short guide. J. B. Hainsworth,
The Idea of Epic
(1991), on composition. Douglas L. Cairns,
Oxford Readings in Homer’s Iliad
(2001), a good selection of essays; Robert Fowler (ed.),
The Cambridge Companion to Homer
(2004), the latest of many such. The best commentaries are the three-volume
A Commentary on Homer’s Odyssey
, translated and republished by the Clarendon Press, Oxford (1985–93) and the six-volume
The Iliad: A Commentary
, under the general editorship of G. S. Kirk, from Cambridge (1985–93). J.-P. Crielaard (ed.),
Homeric Questions
(1995), 201–89, on eighth-century dating. Barbara Graziosi,
Inventing Homer: The Early Reception of Epic
(2002), on the ‘biography’ of Homer. On the trial scene in
Iliad
18, H. J. Wolff, in
Traditio
(1946), 31–87, is still a starting point.

On the
polis
, M. H. Hansen, in
Historia
(2003), 257–82, summarizes his group’s researches since 1993; John Boardman,
The Greeks Overseas: Their Early Colonies and Trade
(4th edn., 1999) is fundamental; R. Osborne,
Greece in the Making, 1200–479
BC
(1996), 19–136, and especially I. Lemos,
The Protogeometric Aegean: The Archaeology of the Late Eleventh and Tenth Centuries
BC
(2002), for the ‘dark’ ages. M. Popham, in Gocha R.
Tsetskhladze and F. de Angelis (eds.),
The Archaeology of Greek Colonization
(1994), 11–34, summarizes work at Lefkandi in Euboea; M. A. Aubet,
The Phoenicians and the West: Politics, Colonies and Trade
(1996 edn.). On Greekness, see especially R. Fowler, ‘Genealogical Thinking: Hesiod’s Catalogue and the Creation of the Hellenes’, in
Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society
, 44 (1998), 1–20. G. R. Tsetskhladze and A. M. Snodgrass (eds.),
Greek Settlements in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea
(2002). Otar Lordkipanidze,
Phasis: The River and City in Colchis
(2000). L. Robert, in
Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique
(1978), 535–8, is brilliant on wine-growing at Koumi in Euboea; Günter Kopcke, in Erica Ehrenberg (ed.),
Leaving No Stones Unturned
… (2002), 109–18, on the pottery fragments found in Galilee; D. Ridgway,
The First Western Greeks
(1992), on work at Ischia; W. Burkert,
The Orientalizing Revolution
(1992) provokes thought; Irad Malkin, in Peter Derow and Robert Parker (eds.),
Herodotus and His World
(2003), 153–70, opposes, as I do, the incorrect notion that settlements were unofficial in every case, and that all written evidence for their nature and organization should be regarded as later folk tale or adjusted ‘legend’. On Acragas, Sybaris and everything Western, T. J. Dunbabin,
The Western Greeks
(1948), especially pages 75–83 and 305–25.

Jacob Burckhardt,
The Greeks and Greek Civilization
, abridged and translated by Sheila Stern (1998), 160–213, a classic study, though best read in German as the translation is abbreviated. Walter Donlan,
The Aristocratic Ideal in Ancient Greece
(1980) is a good modern survey, now updated with his selected papers (1999) in a reissue. Robert Parker,
Athenian Religion: A History
(1996), chapters 2–3, 5 and pages 284–327 show the detail and problems of
gen
ē
in our best-known city-state; F. Bourriot,
Recherches sur la nature du genos
(1976) is not a definitive treatment by any means. R. Lane Fox, in R. Brock and S. Hodkinson (eds.),
Alternatives to Athens
(2000), 35–51, on Theognis’ arch-aristocratic outlook; I have to say I am quite unconvinced, as Theognis would be, by H. van Wees, ibid., pages 52–67, and the attempt to reclassify him as a mafioso, one among many; Theognis, lines 183–8 are eugenic, as Xenophon, in
Stobaeus Florilegium
88.14 was aware, though arguing for a new interpretation. The ‘aristocracy’ cannot be taken out of early Greek (‘eupatrid’) history. Nigel Spivey,
The Ancient Olympics
(2004) is now an excellent guide to athletic matters; O. Murray (ed.),
Sympotica: A Symposium on the Symposium
(1990), on the parties; on hunting, R. Lane Fox, in J. B. Salmon and Graham Shipley (eds.),
Human
Landscapes in Classical Antiquity
(1996) 119–53; K. J. Dover,
Greek Homosexuality
(1978), 49–135, is basic, but with the important critique by James Davidson, in
Past and Present
(2001), 3–51. Sitta von Reden,
Exchange in Ancient Greece
(1995), 1–78, on gifts; Paul Cartledge, in Peter Garnsey, Keith Hopkins and C. R. Whittaker (eds.),
Trade in the Ancient Economy
(1983), 1–15, on trade and politics; Philip de Souza, in Nick Fisher and Hans van Wees,
Archaic Greece
(1998), 271–94, discusses, less optimistically, the problems of early naval warfare.

Mary Lefkowitz,
Greek Gods, Human Lives: What We Can Learn from the Myths
(2003) also sees the lasting force of this aspect of Greeks’ imagination; Jan N. Bremmer,
The Rise and Fall of the Afterlife
(2002), with N. J. Richardson, in P. E. Easterling and J. V. Muir (eds.),
Greek Religion and Society
(1985), 50–66. Simon Price,
Religions of the Ancient Greeks
(1999); W. Burkert,
Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical
(1985) is the classic handbook; A. D. Nock,
Essays on Religion and the Ancient World
, ed. Z. Stewart, volumes I and II (1972) are classics; so is R. C. T. Parker,
Athenian Religion: A History
(1996), with his ‘Gods Cruel and Kind’ in C. Pelling (ed.),
Greek Tragedy and the Historian
(1997), 143–60. W. H. D. Rouse,
Greek Votive Offerings
(1902). F. Graf, ‘Dionysian and Orphic Eschatology: New Texts and Old Questions’, in T. H. Carpenter and C. A. Faraone (eds.),
Masks of Dionysos
(1993), 239–58, marks a new start. J. Gould,
Myth, Ritual, Memory and Exchange
(2001), 269–82, and E. Csapo, in
Phoenix
(1997), 253–95, are both good on Dionysus; R. Lane Fox,
Pagans and Christians
(1986), 102–67, on the presence of the gods; H. W. Parke,
Greek Oracles
(1967),
The Oracles of Zeus
(1967) and
The Oracles of Apollo in Asia Minor
(1983), with Robert Parker, in P. Cartledge and F. D. Harvey,
Crux: Essays Presented to G. E. M. de Sainte Croix
(1985), 298–326.

A. Andrewes,
The Greek Tyrants
(1974 edn.); H. W. Pleket, ‘The Archaic Tyrannis’, in
Talanta I
(1969), 19–61; J. B. Salmon, ‘Political Hoplites’, in
Journal of Hellenic Studies
(1977), 84–101; J. T. Salmon,
Wealthy Corinth
(1984), 186–230, and Graham Shipley,
A History of Samos
(1987), 69–102, for two good surveys of major tyrannies; Hermann J. Kienast, ‘Topography and Architecture of the Archaic Heraion at Samos’, in Maria Stamatopoulou and Marina Yeroulanou (eds.),
Excavating Classical Culture
(2002), 311–26,
is important. On Solon, A. Andrewes, in
Cambridge Ancient History
, volume III.3 (1982), 375–91 and P. J. Rhodes,
A Commentary on the Aristotelian Athenaion Politeia
(1993 edn.), 118–78, are superior to studies written since, most of which they refute; O. Murray, in Paul Cartledge, Paul Millett and Stephen Todd (eds.),
Nomos: Essays in Athenian Law, Politics and Society
(1990), 139–146, adds value; A. Zimmern,
The Greek Commonwealth
(1911), 125–38, on ‘fair play’, with the classic study of W. G. Forrest,
Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique
(1956), 33–52, whose long-shots I still want to believe; R. F. Willetts,
The Law Code of Gortyn
(1967) translates the great text on which I side with Edmond Lévy, ‘La Cohérence du code de Gortyne’, in Edmond Lévy (ed.),
La Codification des lois dans l’antiquité
(2000), 185–214; G. E. M. de Sainte Croix,
Athenian Democratic Origins
(2004) is magnificently right about the propertyclasses (pages 5–72), wrong on the ‘zeugite’ (page 50) and vigorouslywrong, but wary, about ‘
hektemoroi
’ (‘sixth-part payers’) as essentially debtors (pages 109–27). The entire collection is a classic.

W. G. Forrest,
A History of Sparta
(1994 edn.); M. Whitby (ed.),
Sparta
(2002); Paul Cartledge,
The Spartans: An Epic History
(2002) and
Spartan Reflections
(2001); Anton Powell and Stephen Hodkinson (eds.),
Sparta beyond the Mirage
(2002); Anton Powell (ed.),
Classical Sparta: Techniques behind Her Success
(1989) is a fine collection, especially the essays on laughter, on drink and the promotion of harmony and a very penetrating study of Spartan religion by Robert Parker. Alcman’s bewitching, and partially intelligible,
Partheneion
is most recently discussed by G. O. Hutchinson,
Greek Lyric Poetry
(2001); G. Devereux, in
Classical Quarterly
(1965), 176–84, is excellent on the horses; Daniel Ogden, in
Journal of Hellenic Studies
(1994), 85–91, is an excellent guide to the Great Rhetra’s problems; Nino Luraghi and Susan Alcock (eds.),
Helots and Their Masters
(2003), on an ill-attested subject; Robin Osborne, ‘The Spartan Exception?’, in Marja C. Vink (ed.),
Debating Dark Ages
(1996–7), 19–23, for a clear summary of archaeological evidence.

John M. Cook,
The Greeks in Ionia and the East
(1960) and G. L. Huxley,
The Early Ionians
(1966) are full of detail; Graham Shipley,
A History of Samos
(1983) and C. Roebuck and H. Kyrieleis, in J. Boardman and C. E.
Vaphopoulou-Richardson (eds.),
Chios
(1984), 81–8 and 187–204, are excellent island studies; Ellen Greene (ed.),
Re-reading Sappho: Contemporary Approaches
(1996), especially chapters 7 and 8. Edward Hussey,
The Presocratics
(1996 edn.) is very clear; Jonathan Barnes,
Early Greek Philosophy
(2001, revised edn.) and
The Presocratic Philosophers
(1999) are fuller; Alan M. Greaves,
Miletos: A History
(2002), not displacing the older and wilder Adelaide G. Dunham,
The History of Miletus Down to the Anabasis of Alexander
(1919); R. M. Cook and Pierre Dupont,
East Greek Pottery
(2002). Thomas Braun, ‘Hecataeus’ Knowledge of the Western Mediterranean’, in Kathryn Lomas (ed.),
Greek Identity in the Western Mediterranean
(2004), 287–348, a very important study; Robert Leighton,
Tarquinia: An Etruscan City
(2004) with Sybille Haynes,
Etruscan Civilization: A Cultural History
(2000), an excellent overview, and her well-based novel about Etruscan life,
The Augur’s Daughter
(1987).

I. Malkin,
Myth and Territory in the Spartan Mediterranean
(1994); W. G. Forrest,
A History of Sparta
(1967), 69–95, a classic; Adrienne Mayor,
The First Fossil Hunters
(2000), a brilliant study of ‘bones’; Martin Ostwald,
Autonomia: Its Genesis and Early History
(1982), with which I have disagreed; R. J. Lane Fox and also O. Murray, in John T. A. Koumoulides,
The Good Idea: Democracy and Ancient Greece
(1995) on Cleisthenes, and Orlando Patterson,
Freedom
(1997) with which I disagree; W. G. Forrest,
The Emergence of Greek Democracy
(1963) is the classic studystill, with the very important essay by A. Andrewes, in
Classical Quarterly
(1977), 241–8 and by H. T. Wade-Gery,
Essays in Greek History
(1958), 135–54, a still-inspiring collection; D. M. Lewis, in
Historia
(1963), 22–40, is the classic on the infrastructure; P. J. Rhodes (ed.),
Athenian Democracy
(2004) is a good selection of papers; G. E. M. de Sainte Croix,
Athenian Democratic Origins
(2004), 180–214, excellent on ostracism; Mogens H. Hansen,
The Athenian Democracy in the Age of Demosthenes
(1991; revised edn., 1999), on institutions; J. K. Davies, in Peter Derow and Robert Parker,
Herodotus and His World
(2003), 319–36, on sixth-century state development; D. Mertens, in
Bolletino d’arte
(1982), 1–57, on Metapontum; Eric W. Robinson,
The First Democracies
(1997), for rival ‘firsts’ for which I do not accept the evidence.

P. Briant,
From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire
, translated by Peter T. Daniels (2002), is a massive survey, with strong interpretations; E. J. Bickermann, in
Journal of Biblical Literature
(1945–6), 249–75, is classic on Cyrus and the Jews; O. Murray, in
Cambridge Ancient History
, volume IV (1988), 461–90, J. L. Myres, in
Palestine Exploration Quarterly
(1953), 8–22, a brilliant essay, and W. G. Forrest, in
International History Review
(1979), 311–25, another: all discuss the Revolt in Asia Minor; A. R. Burn,
Persia and the Greeks: The Defence of the West
(1984, 2nd edn.) is best on the wars; Philip de Souza,
The Greek and Persian Wars, 499–386
BC
(2003) gives a simple overview; N. G. L. Hammond and J. P. Barron in
Cambridge Ancient History
, volume IV (1988), 461–90 and 592–622, are excellent on detail; D. B. Thompson, in
The Aegean and the Near East: Studies Presented to Hatty Goldman
(1956), 281–91 is classic on the Persian spoils in Athens; E. Hall,
Inventing the Barbarian: Greek Self-Definition through Tragedy
(1989) is valid for vase painting and drama at Athens only; Margaret C. Miller,
Athens and Persia in the Fifth Century
BC
(1997) elaborates on the Persians’ impact.