The Ancient Greeks For Dummies
by Stephen Batchelor
The Ancient Greeks For Dummies
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-0-470-98787-2
Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International, Padstow, Cornwall
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Author
Stephen Batchelor has taught Ancient History and Classical Studies for a number of years to a wide variety of student groups and is currently Head of School for Creative and Visual Arts at Mid-Kent College. He has travelled extensively in the Mediterranean and worked there as an archaeological tour guide. He has written book reviews for Current Archaeology and History Today. The Ancient Greeks For Dummies is his first book.
Authors Acknowledgements
This is my first book and there are several people that I would like to thank: Rachael and the team at Wiley for all their supportive comments and feedback, Dr Neil Faulkner for all his help over the years and his recommendation for this project, both my parents for their continued support, and my partner Samantha for putting up with so many lost weekends while I just did a bit more on the book.
Id like to dedicate this book to my father, Alan Batchelor, and thank him for absolutely everything. I know youve always preferred the Romans, but this one is for you, Dad.
Publishers Acknowledgements
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Introduction
W hen I think about it, Ive always been interested in Ancient Greece but I spent a lot of my time not realising that I was. When I was very young I went to Cyprus on holiday and was fascinated by the ruined statues and mosaics. As I grew a little older I loved films like Jason and the Argonauts and Clash of the Titans that were endlessly repeated on television at Christmas. What I didnt understand was the Greekness of these things. I knew that I liked the great stories and scary monsters but it was only when I got older that I realised that they were just a tiny part of the fascinating world of the ancient Greeks.
What interested me most was the fact that, despite the gap of over 2,000 years, the world of the ancient Greeks seemed very real and contemporary. They had the same concerns and problems as people do today and went about dealing with them in tremendously imaginative ways. The Greeks were hugely creative and although they lived in a world with a very dominant religion, they never stopped looking for new solutions to age old problems.