The Greeks

Who were the Classical Greeks? This book provides an original and challenging answer by exploring how Greeks (adult, male, citizen) defined themselves in opposition to a whole series of others (non-Greeks, women, slaves, non-citizens, and gods) as presented by supposedly objective historians of the time such as Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon. Cartledge looks at the achievements and legacy of the Greeks - history, democracy, philosophy and theatre - and the mental and material contexts of these inventions which are often deeply alien to our own way of thinking and acting. This new edition contains an updated bibliography, a new chapter entitled Entr'acte: Others in Images and Images of Others, and a new afterword.

Examines clasical histories to explore how Greeks sought to define themselves in opposition to a whole series of Others' - non-Greeks, women, non-citizens, slaves, and gods.

The lively and succinct development of many ancient and modern arguments makes The Greeks a welcome and timely contribution to a number of continuing and important debates--Times Literary Supplement