3.96

4

Mar 24, 2011

In the late Victorian, an eighteen-year-old Edith Hamilton graduated from Bryn Mawr College. Enraptured by the spirit of Classical Antiquity, she did what any academic would and traveled to the center of Greek and Roman studies, Germany, to continue her education. She was the first woman to attend classes in these great European colleges, though she could not pursue a degree, instead she had to audit, watching lectures from s specially-built booth that screened her from the view of her In the late Victorian, an eighteen-year-old Edith Hamilton graduated from Bryn Mawr College. Enraptured by the spirit of Classical Antiquity, she did what any academic would and traveled to the center of Greek and Roman studies, Germany, to continue her education. She was the first woman to attend classes in these great European colleges, though she could not pursue a degree, instead she had to audit, watching lectures from s specially-built booth that screened her from the view of her classmates so they would not be scandalized by female intrusion.

She was not allowed to ask questions, but soon began to tire of the German method. The professors were always distant from the material, discussing in the greatest depth which verb cases Pindar used while never once acknowledging that he was a poet, or a human being.

It recalls one to the scene in Forester's 'Maurice' where a group of young students are reading aloud, translating as they go, on the topic of the glories of male love, while at every other paragraph, the professor instructs them to omit the 'unspeakable vice of the Greeks'. They must study and translate the text, but never once consider its content or meaning.

So Hamilton returned to the United States, and to her alma mater, where she became headmistress, continuing her studies and teaching the classics for the next twenty-six years. It was not until her early sixties that she wrote her first book, The Greek Way, which stands in opposition to the German style, seeking to understand and explicate the Greek mind.

This compilation of considerations, assembled at the end of a lengthy career, might be seen as a series of lectures on related topics, each chapter tackling a different author or concept, giving an introduction, facilitating understanding, and gradually, producing an overarching theory concerning the Greek mind and the Greek, himself.

It is a most unusually personal look at the Greeks, from someone who spent her life growing near to them, and it is entirely full of extraordinary theories and observations, all backed up by quotes from the great thinkers, not only of Greece, but of all ages. Hamilton seeks to connect us to Greece, to bridge the gap of time and thought and allow us to think of the Greeks as authors, artists, and people. She removes them from their pedestals and proffers them to us, though not without care, respect, and passion.

There is something of a worship for Greek thought and ways here, an attempt to convince us that, despite all we have achieved, we cannot equal or excel the Greeks. Hamilton by no means grudges us our growth, our change, our recognition of the importance of the individual, but implores us to learn something from the ways of old Greece.

Her encyclopedic use of quotations, her deferring to those who have, for all posterity, 'said it better' is charming, and also connects Greece to the thinkers and artists she inspired, inviting us to understand them by comparison. For any scholar of Nietzsche, as an example, it is easy to see how Hamilton plays with the many themes he drew from Greek thought, including the Apollonian/Dionysian split and the arete which defined both the best Greeks and his notion of 'Superman'.

I have always been partial to arete, myself; there is no reason we cannot all strive to be wise, sociable, fit, and knowledgeable in every field, from philosophy to history. The idea that the strong man can afford to be a dullard or the knowledgeable man a scatterbrained outcast is to accept that we should be less than we are.

Her comparison between Kant, who was as detached from the world as his theories, and Socrates, who developed his ideas while talking and laughing with friends, shows that a passion for the mind need not make one withdrawn or unpleasant. After all, Chekhov wrote at his desk at parties, taking characters and ideas from his guests, and has yet to be matched as a psychological realist.

I was also tickled that she used a passage from Tacitus in her definition of 'Tragedy' which I have used as a similar example since being taken by it. That chapter is the weakest in the book, at turns ingenious and unsure. Her observations remain insightful, but are not as polished or convincing as the rest of the book. She may be right in what she says, but her arguments are incomplete.

Hamilton would go on to write two more books, a similar volume on Rome and her 'Mythology', the definitive classroom text. Though she was, throughout her life, kept at arm's length from academia, and is still criticized for being insufficiently scholarly, this book is an achievement, insightful and wide-reaching.

Her conclusions may sometimes be grandiose, but never naively so. Her personalized, holistic style prefigures much of modern academia, and though it took some time, the world has, at last, caught up with her notion that there is nothing unspeakable about seeking a more personal relationship with our past. ...more

4

Feb 11, 2010

The disdain of professional classicists for Edith Hamilton is understandable but nevertheless unfair, since she never held herself out as a learned scholar or textual critic. Instead, she simply took a great interest in communicating to a broader audience (i.e. the masses) what it was that made Greek civilization worthy of our attention. Hamilton was one of those enthusiasts who was simply in love with the Greeks, and that affection is evident on every page.

She was, in short, a "popularizer," The disdain of professional classicists for Edith Hamilton is understandable but nevertheless unfair, since she never held herself out as a learned scholar or textual critic. Instead, she simply took a great interest in communicating to a broader audience (i.e. the masses) what it was that made Greek civilization worthy of our attention. Hamilton was one of those enthusiasts who was simply in love with the Greeks, and that affection is evident on every page.

She was, in short, a "popularizer," and she was very good at it. She writes well, and there are many good general observations about the Greeks in this little volume, originally published in 1930.

The chief virtue of this book is the way in which Hamilton focuses her discussion of the Greek achievement on the literary productions of such writers as Pindar, Thucydides, Herodotus, the tragedians, Aristophanes, Plato and even Xenophon. "The Greek Way of Writing" (Chapter Four) contains one of the best discussions I have encountered on the unique way in which the Greeks employed their language.

The author makes the excellent point, for example, that while we take Greek statuary and architecture for granted, we are in a very different place as far as their language is concerned. She writes: "... Greek is a very subtle language, full of delicately modifying words, capable of the finest distinctions of meaning. Years of study are needed to read it even tolerably." Talk about honesty -- I myself have an advanced degree in the subject; I have been been reading and teaching it for years. I have invested thousands of hours in the hope of reaching a deeper understanding of this extraordinary language and yet, because of the incredible challenges that it poses, I would not dare to call myself anything more than an advanced beginner.

She compares brief excerpts from Homer, Aeschylus, and other Greek poets with snippets of English poetry (Shakespeare, Byron, Keats) and also Biblical Hebrew poetry (Psalms and Prophets). She explains the reasons for their differences and especially how Greek, in its famous austerity, uses ornamental epithets far more sparingly and with much tighter control. Greek authors, she claims, routinely used their language less to appeal to the emotions than to factual truth, logic, and ideas. While this assertion is attractive -- and perhaps very true when an author such as Heraclitus or Plato or Aristotle is in hand -- it is difficult to reconcile with the constant repetition of oimoi and aiai and e e and pheu in Greek tragedy, not to mention some of the more explosive passages of mind-warping anger, hatred, or consuming grief found not infrequently in both tragedy and epic. On balance, however, it is clear that given Greek writers' love of symmetry, harmony, and a due regard for the relationship of the part to the whole, Hamilton is spot on when she reminds us that the form of many of their literary productions turns out to have much more in common with their architecture and statuary than might at first appear.

This chapter alone has great value, since it explains exceptionally well what few other popular treatments do: the precise reasons why the Greek style of literary expression is so striking in its simplicity, directness, and beauty, and how difficult it can be to take those qualities and maintain them in a language that is altogether different, namely English.

If you enjoy Greek literature, read what she has to say about the Greek language, the magnificent instrument that it was in the hands of the best Greek writers. ...more

5

Oct 08, 2016

Edith Hamilton is my favourite writer when it comes to describing ancient Greek mythology. This is her first book where she tries to place the context of intellectual life in 5th C Athens from which so much influential poetry, theatre and philosophy will be born. It feels like you are walking down the lane in front of the Parthenon with the plunging view of Athens seeing Socrates pass by with a gaggle of students around him, Aristophanes on the side of a building looking up at a flock of birds, Edith Hamilton is my favourite writer when it comes to describing ancient Greek mythology. This is her first book where she tries to place the context of intellectual life in 5th C Athens from which so much influential poetry, theatre and philosophy will be born. It feels like you are walking down the lane in front of the Parthenon with the plunging view of Athens seeing Socrates pass by with a gaggle of students around him, Aristophanes on the side of a building looking up at a flock of birds, a young Plato listening on the steps of the Forum to a public debate. ...more

5

Aug 16, 2012

I have been re-reading this, for the first time since high school. It remains a splendid book. Hard to imagine what could be better for the purpose of introducing the achievements of classical Greece to modern readers. The author treats her subject with the clarity and brevity that comes from mastery. She explains to the reader what was singular about the Greeks, and why it continues to matter to this day.

When I had read it in high school, I had not favored it as much as I had H. D. F. Kitto’s I have been re-reading this, for the first time since high school. It remains a splendid book. Hard to imagine what could be better for the purpose of introducing the achievements of classical Greece to modern readers. The author treats her subject with the clarity and brevity that comes from mastery. She explains to the reader what was singular about the Greeks, and why it continues to matter to this day.

When I had read it in high school, I had not favored it as much as I had H. D. F. Kitto’s The Greeks; but that was because I had been more interested in what Kitto’s book covers — the Greeks’ invention of politics — and its description of the polis. Now, however, I understand that both books are indispensable for any English-language reader who wishes to appreciate the legacy of the Greeks of classical antiquity. ...more

1

Aug 30, 2007

Edith Hamilton's prose reads like a disjointed and stilted school-boy translation of ancient greek. Plus, she's a snob and a hyperbolist. Her books should be put on the trash heap with all the other Victorian bombasts.

If you want to learn why to love the ancients, go read a novel by Mary Renault.

5

Oct 07, 2012

Although it's sixty years old, this masterful little book brings ancient Greece to life and connects the core issues and questions that drove their lives to the issues and questions any thinking person struggles with today. Hamilton masterfully integrates a long view of the ebb and flow of human thought with the specifics that drive us making each period unique. She describes how in ancient Greece, for the first time in history, man was sufficiently secure to let go of the day to day concerns Although it's sixty years old, this masterful little book brings ancient Greece to life and connects the core issues and questions that drove their lives to the issues and questions any thinking person struggles with today. Hamilton masterfully integrates a long view of the ebb and flow of human thought with the specifics that drive us making each period unique. She describes how in ancient Greece, for the first time in history, man was sufficiently secure to let go of the day to day concerns such as securing sufficient calories and reproducing, to ponder about a life beyond mere survival. She describes the essential character of the great writers of the period so their words and stories don't simply blend together in an unintelligible mass but are clearly distinguishable.

Some of my favorite quotes:

"'God offers to everyone,' says Emerson, 'his choice between truth and repose. Take which you please -- you can never have both.'" (39)

"The Realism of one generation is apt to be the Romanticism of the next" (171)

"Life for him [AEschylus] was an adventure, perilous indeed, but men are not made for safe havens. The fullness of life is in the hazards of life. And at the worst, there is that in us which can turn defeat into victory." (176)

"To strive to understand the irresistible movements of events is illusory; still more so to set ourselves against what we can affect as little as the planets in their orbits. Even so, we are not mere spectators. There is nobility in the world, goodnesss, gentleness. Men are helpless so far as their fate is concerned, but they can ally themselves with the good, and in suffering and dying, die and suffer nobly." (187)

"The life without criticism,' Plato says, 'is not worthy to be lived.'" (198)

"The modern mind is never popular in its own day. People hate being made to think, above all upon fundamental problems. Sophocles touched with the radiant glory of sublime poetry the figures of the ancient gods, and the Athenians went home from his plays with the pleasing conviction that old things were right. But Euripides was the arch-heretic, miserably disturbing, never willing to leave a man comfortably esconded in his favorite convictions and prejudices." (205).

"The dogmatism of each age wears out. Statements of absolute truth grow thin, show gaps, are discarded. The heterodoxy of one generation is the orthodoxy of the next. The ultimate critique of pure reason is that its results do not endure." (206).

"A magical universe was so terrifying because it was so irrational, and therefore completely incalculable. THere was no dependable relation anywhere between cause and effect. It will readily be seen what it did to the human intellect to live in such an atmosphere, and what it did to the human character too. Fear is of all the emotions the most brutalizing." (211)

"Everywhere we are distracted by the claim of the single man against the common welfare. Along with this realization of each unit in the mass has come an over-realization of ourselves. We are burdened with over-realization. Not that we can perceive too clearly the rights and wrongs of every human being but that we feel too deeply our own, to find in the end that what has meaning only for each one alone has no real meaning at all." (246)

"Even though the way of the West since Greece has bene always to set mind against spirit, never to grasp the twofold aspect of all human things, yet we are not able to give ourselves wholly up to one and let the other drop from our consciousness. Each generation in turn is constrained to try to reconcile the truth the spirit knows with the truth the mind knows, to make the inner world fit into the ever-changing frame of the outer world. To each in turn it appears impossible; either the picture or the frame must go, but the struggle toward adjustment never ends, for the necessity to achieve it is in our nature." (247) ...more

5

Jul 16, 2018

Beautiful descriptions of Greece and the Athenian people. Truly a gorgeous picture set and many different perspectives opened up. Some parts were dull but other than that, I totally recommend!

3

May 12, 2012

I finished it months ago, but skimming over it to write my research project. Hamilton is a classicist rather than a historian, although historians of Ancient Greece tend to be as familiar with Aeschylus as they are Thucydides. Hamilton does know her history, but is rather bold if not reckless in her ideas which would probably get a more circumspect response from a true historian. The Athenians were the only civilization up to that time who loved life, she says. All other civilizations, she says, I finished it months ago, but skimming over it to write my research project. Hamilton is a classicist rather than a historian, although historians of Ancient Greece tend to be as familiar with Aeschylus as they are Thucydides. Hamilton does know her history, but is rather bold if not reckless in her ideas which would probably get a more circumspect response from a true historian. The Athenians were the only civilization up to that time who loved life, she says. All other civilizations, she says, created institutions around death and the afterlife. She ignores the importance of money that allowed Socrates and others freedom from work to persue art, how in a small town the ideas of intelkects will resonate in all quarters of the city, making intellectual pursuits the talk of all denizens, and how war and its atrocities gave drama art not to mention democracy turning into demogagery ...more

3

Mar 01, 2010

Chapters 5-14 of The Greek Way are excellent. Edith Hamilton is at her best when sketching biographies of specific people. She makes historical figures come alive as real humans by examining their writings as well as anecdotes told about them by their contemporaries. One high point for me was the story of Socrates drinking everyone else under the table at the dinner party, and of him being ribbed by his companions about his shrewish wife. Such moments make this book worthwhile for any student of Chapters 5-14 of The Greek Way are excellent. Edith Hamilton is at her best when sketching biographies of specific people. She makes historical figures come alive as real humans by examining their writings as well as anecdotes told about them by their contemporaries. One high point for me was the story of Socrates drinking everyone else under the table at the dinner party, and of him being ribbed by his companions about his shrewish wife. Such moments make this book worthwhile for any student of the classics.

However, the first four chapters and the last three share in the same flaws that I noted in my review of The Echo of Greece. When Edith Hamilton discusses the “Greek mind” or the “Greek way” she inevitably focuses on 5th century Athens. The way of the Lacedaemonians, the way of the Corinthians, even the way of earlier Mycenaens or Minoans have no part in “The Greek Way” as far as Hamilton is concerned. When she gives her broad overviews she paints with a big brush, and her depictions of non-Greek cultures are overly simplistic.

Let me give just one example. After stating that Greek art was first and foremost realistic, depicting only life as it is seen with nothing fantastic or unbelievable, she criticizes art of the East and Near East for its depictions of weird human/animal hybrids. (As to the famous amphora painting of Oedipus and the Sphinx which I mentioned in my review of The Echo of Greece there is still no explanation.) Then, when confronting the pyramids, apex of Egyptian art and as natural as mountains or sand dunes, she is caught in a bind. It is certainly realistic and natural in its way. So she instead writes, “All the tremendous art of Egyptian sculpture has something of this unity with the physical world. The colossal statues have only just emerged from the rocks of the hills. They keep the marks of their origin…What Egyptian art would have resulted in if it had been allowed a free development, is one of those questions that forever engage the attention through the realization of an immense loss to the world. But the priests stepped in, and that direct experience of the spirit was arrested at a certain point and held fast.” In other words, yes, Egyptian art is realistic and natural. But it’s still not Greek. Just imagine if the Egyptian priests had not stepped in. Why, the Egyptians may have eventually created Greek art!

This is, once again, the pattern of making a judgment, coming to a conclusion, and then making sure the facts substantiate the conclusion in the end. This is what irks me so much about Hamilton’s writing. She seems totally unable to criticize Greek culture or praise Persian, Hebrew, Roman, or Egyptian culture, except insofar as those cultures share in the “Greek spirit”. Her biographical chapters are wonderful, helpful and extremely engaging. I highly recommend this book if only for those parts. However, her worldview analyses remain problematic for anyone looking for an accurate and less biased overview of Greek history. In short, Edith Hamilton and 5th century Athens just need to get a room.
...more

5

Oct 12, 2012

Alas, an old and decrepit copy!

Simply, a treatise on the greatness of the Ancient Greeks. From this statement, Hamilton then proceeds to show the reader why we can say "great."

She traces each "big" writer: Aeschylus, Herodutus, Plato, etc. and sets up a comparative with each. Aeschylus with the other dramatists; Herodutus with Thucydides and Xenophon, etc.

But, the two most powerful arguments, I think, come at the beginning and the end: the first setting in relief the difference between thinking Alas, an old and decrepit copy!

Simply, a treatise on the greatness of the Ancient Greeks. From this statement, Hamilton then proceeds to show the reader why we can say "great."

She traces each "big" writer: Aeschylus, Herodutus, Plato, etc. and sets up a comparative with each. Aeschylus with the other dramatists; Herodutus with Thucydides and Xenophon, etc.

But, the two most powerful arguments, I think, come at the beginning and the end: the first setting in relief the difference between thinking of the East against this "new" Greek thinking that ultimately becomes the core to the West; and, the second concerning a follow-on to the first—that of the spurning of religeon as a controlling force in men's (and women's) lives.

This, like other works regarding the classical world, I will return to again and again, I'm sure.

But first, I'll definitely have to buy an updated copy—one that is not bound with an elastic.
...more

5

Aug 29, 2007

My current favorite book; brilliantly presented, truthful, braod, and just the right amount of justified snobbery on behalf of the Greeks. Changed my life and how i think about the world.

5

May 22, 2019

One of my favorite Friedrich Nietzsche quotes is: “It was subtle of God to learn Greek when he wished to become an author – and not to learn it better.”

The Golden Age of Greece is still unsurpassed and this book finally made me appreciate Edith Hamilton. Years ago I’d read and enjoyed “Mythology” but didn’t understand the passion for her work or why she had such an avid following. This book explains why; this concise summation beautifully analyzes and illuminates the many reasons to admire the One of my favorite Friedrich Nietzsche quotes is: “It was subtle of God to learn Greek when he wished to become an author – and not to learn it better.”

The Golden Age of Greece is still unsurpassed and this book finally made me appreciate Edith Hamilton. Years ago I’d read and enjoyed “Mythology” but didn’t understand the passion for her work or why she had such an avid following. This book explains why; this concise summation beautifully analyzes and illuminates the many reasons to admire the Ancient Greeks.
...more

5

Oct 15, 2010

This book was lost on me in college and I'm so glad I found a copy recently.

Miss Hamilton is a wonderful teacher and this is a fantastic readers' companion to the Greek greats. She differentiates between the tragedians so successfully that this should be required reading for all directing students. I humbly disagree with her opening thesis on ancient Greek motivations and values, which are, I think, overly influenced by the two World Wars she lived through and her deep knowledge of the Bible, This book was lost on me in college and I'm so glad I found a copy recently.

Miss Hamilton is a wonderful teacher and this is a fantastic readers' companion to the Greek greats. She differentiates between the tragedians so successfully that this should be required reading for all directing students. I humbly disagree with her opening thesis on ancient Greek motivations and values, which are, I think, overly influenced by the two World Wars she lived through and her deep knowledge of the Bible, but where she puts all other scholars to shame is in the details. Who else would share with us that Socrates danced every morning to keep fit? ...more

4

Mar 29, 2008

I first encountered the work of Edith Hamilton when I was a student of Latin in high school. She enchanted me with her love for classical Greece much as did my Latin teacher. Hamilton outlines both the mythology and cultural history of Greece from its literature to it art, architecture and beyond. Her passion for the classics, she co-edited what is still a standard collection of Plato's Dialogues, is evident on every page. It hard for the reader not to succumb to the admirable presentation and I first encountered the work of Edith Hamilton when I was a student of Latin in high school. She enchanted me with her love for classical Greece much as did my Latin teacher. Hamilton outlines both the mythology and cultural history of Greece from its literature to it art, architecture and beyond. Her passion for the classics, she co-edited what is still a standard collection of Plato's Dialogues, is evident on every page. It hard for the reader not to succumb to the admirable presentation and seek further immersion in this culture. This is a wonderful overview of the culture that influences yet today. ...more

5

May 06, 2018

I first read this book back in college at a humanities survey course. I remembered this book fondly as a survey of Greek art, philosophy and literature. The textbook for the course was boring, but this book which was also assigned was not. This book remains a classic—Edith Hamilton was an extraordinary historian who was also the Head Mistress for Bryn Mawr and in addition to this also wrote a bestselling book on Mythology. She was also made an honorary citizen of Athens for her work.

I happened I first read this book back in college at a humanities survey course. I remembered this book fondly as a survey of Greek art, philosophy and literature. The textbook for the course was boring, but this book which was also assigned was not. This book remains a classic—Edith Hamilton was an extraordinary historian who was also the Head Mistress for Bryn Mawr and in addition to this also wrote a bestselling book on Mythology. She was also made an honorary citizen of Athens for her work.

I happened to pick this book up at a library sale—it is a double book which contains not only the Greek Way but a second book by Hamilton, the Roman Way. I’ll go back and read the second title later.

It is a worthy exercise to read this book to understand more about our current civilization and where we came from. The book is as relevant today as when it was written in the 20th century. I found much in this work that can be applied to our own world today. Here is a quote about the cycles of history and politics:

"A historian who lived some two hundred years later, Polybius, also a Greek, gives an admirably clear and condensed account of Thucydides’ basic thesis. Human history, he says, is a cycle which excess of power keeps revolving. Primitive despots start the wheel rolling. The more power they get the more they want, and they go on abusing their authority until inevitably opposition is aroused and a few men, strong enough when they unite, seize the rule for themselves. These, too, can never be satisfied. They encroach upon the rights of others until they are opposed in their turn. The people aroused against them, and democracy succeeds to oligarchy. But there again the evil in all power is no less operative. It brings corruption and contempt for law, until the state can no longer function and falls easily before a strong man who promises to restore order. The rule of the one, of the few, of the many, each is destroyed in turn because there is in them all an unvarying evil—the greed for power—and no moral quality is necessarily bound up with any of them." ...more

4

Feb 19, 2017

So, why should this little book—initially published over eighty years ago, written by a woman who died in 1963, extolling the virtues of a polis that vanished roughly 2500 years ago—have any compelling interest for a reader in the second decade of the 21st century? Yet it does, because Miss Hamilton, in cogent and elegant prose, makes the case for the continuing importance of classical Greece (and, in particular, the Athens of the 5th century BC). When I growing up, we took for granted the So, why should this little book—initially published over eighty years ago, written by a woman who died in 1963, extolling the virtues of a polis that vanished roughly 2500 years ago—have any compelling interest for a reader in the second decade of the 21st century? Yet it does, because Miss Hamilton, in cogent and elegant prose, makes the case for the continuing importance of classical Greece (and, in particular, the Athens of the 5th century BC). When I growing up, we took for granted the general proposition that Western Civilization traced at least some of its roots to that outburst of artistic and intellectual energy. But our understanding was superficial (at best). That is not surprising. Even our teachers came of age at a time when Greek and Latin were no longer routinely taught as part of a serious education. Hamilton was from an earlier generation, when the study of the classics had not been entirely relegated to an out of the way corner of academia. She dove in, and (presumably driven by a love for what she found), found her way to graduate work at the University of Munich (apparently the first woman admitted to that institution).

The Greek Way (written when Hamilton was already 60 years old) appears to be a summary of that love, and a distillation of what she found reading and studying what the Greeks left behind—material compelling enough that it was preserved for millennia. She warns us at the beginning that those of us who must rely on translations will lose something. Even so, there is enough that transcends the limits of translation to make familiarity worthwhile. Hamilton argues that the Greeks were the originators of much of what we take for granted, including our assumptions about art, the importance of a free mind, and the reasons why we find tragedy compelling.

I don’t know if everything Miss Hamilton asserts is correct, in part because I don’t know enough. And that is the chief virtue of the book—it inspires me to read more of classical literature, of Plato and Aristotle, to really read Thucydides (carefully this time, and not as an undergraduate fulfilling an assignment). Hamilton shows the reader how the Greeks (by which, she really means the Athenians), wrestled with the problems posed by the competing demands of fate and free will, with the paradox of pain and suffering, with the joys of life and the inevitability of death.

We would do well to divorce ourselves from the never-ending news cycle, from politics as gospel, from our culture’s definition of virtue as sending out the politically correct signals. The Greek Way offers a road map for further reading into deeper waters that our desperately shallow culture affords.

...more

5

Dec 11, 2012

"Little is left of all this wealth of great art: the sculptures, defaced and broken into bits, have crumbled away; the buildings are fallen; the paintings gone forever; of the writings, all lost but a very few. We have only the ruin of what was; the world has had no more than that for well on for two thousand years; yet these few remains of the mighty structure have been a challenge and an incitement to men ever since and they are among our possessions today which we value as most precious.” A "Little is left of all this wealth of great art: the sculptures, defaced and broken into bits, have crumbled away; the buildings are fallen; the paintings gone forever; of the writings, all lost but a very few. We have only the ruin of what was; the world has had no more than that for well on for two thousand years; yet these few remains of the mighty structure have been a challenge and an incitement to men ever since and they are among our possessions today which we value as most precious.” A passage taken at random (page 18 of my Norton edition) which illustrates the strength of this remarkable book. Edith Hamilton writes beautiful prose which has been a joy to many since her book was first published in 1930.

She writes for an audience unfamiliar with ancient Greek culture. Her attempt to indicate the effect that Pindar achieved is perhaps bound to fail, but it is a noble attempt. She fares a little better with the dramatists, though hindered in that we are little equipped to appreciate verse drama in translation. The best sections are those dealing with prose writers: Plato, Herodotus, Thucydides. An important proviso though is that Hamilton is not primarily an analyst. She strives to pass on her own love and appreciation, not a critique. As such her work has always been welcomed by lay readers new to the subject.

This beautifully written book, both lofty and inspiring, yet inculcates a number of falsities about ancient Greece, once commonly held. It downplays Greek religion and magical and mystical beliefs, apparantly under the impression that the philosophical outlook (which survives in written form more so than religious texts) was the norm. On the contrary, one of the universal influences on all ancient Greeks (and it is suspected, on emerging Christianity), was the Eleusian mysteries. Greek oracular shrines, too, were enormously popular throughout the ancient Mediterranean world. The book also overlooks the fact that the ‘rationalist’ school of philosophy initiated by Thales was an outcrop of Persian philosophical thinking.

Hamilton’s book contrasts Persian (tyrannical and slave based) with Greek (freedom loving) society, oblivious that Greece was a slave based society (as most ancient cultures were) and that many Persians were fanatically loyal to their ‘King of Kings’. Little is said of the oligarchic governments of poleis such as Thebes, Sparta or Corinth, nor of the excesses of Athenian democracy; the list of great names who succumbed to democratic reigns of terror is a sad one: Themistokles, Aristedes, Alkibiades, Socrates…

The subjective feeling is that the Greeks were fighting something similar to Nazism in their Persian Wars. Scholarship is yet another expression of the time in which it was written.

Yet of course all this is little in comparison to the book’s great virtues. Don’t read it as an example of penetrating scholarship: there is plenty of more up-to-date material freely available. Read it if you need to know why the ancient Greeks are important, have been in the past, and hopefully will always be.

Sadly, all books on ancient Greek culture must tell an incomplete story. There were once many artworks and artists whom we are not aware of: musicians, dancers and other performers have of course left no trace; painters and sculptors as well as architects are represented by ruins and reputations; and there is a range of writings in genres we’ve never heard of that haven’t survived. The first volume of the Loeb edition of Athenaeus’ Deipnosophists has an index listing over 300 writers – poets, dramatists, dancers, painters, philosophers, performers, writers on food, scholars, satiric poets and so on – none of whose works have survived the years. The culture of ancient times has been bereft of sound, movement and colour, and of 99% of its writers. The ruins of time have left something valuable, but something almost impossible to see in context. Edith Hamilton’s The Greek Way is still a useful aid to appreciating what remains of ancient Greek culture. ...more

5

Feb 15, 2019

It is the fashion of the times to demote Greece and Rome from their pedestals and insist on the homogenization of history and culture, to declare that no one society, set of laws and customs, or literature and poetry is better than any other. It offends delicate souls to be told that lightning may have struck certain civilizations at certain times, and that they made outsize contributions to our world, gifts that still form the bedrock of our societies. “[I]n truth what the Greeks discovered, or It is the fashion of the times to demote Greece and Rome from their pedestals and insist on the homogenization of history and culture, to declare that no one society, set of laws and customs, or literature and poetry is better than any other. It offends delicate souls to be told that lightning may have struck certain civilizations at certain times, and that they made outsize contributions to our world, gifts that still form the bedrock of our societies. “[I]n truth what the Greeks discovered, or rather how they made their discoveries and how they brought a new world to birth out of the dark confusions of an old world that had crumbled away, is full of meaning for us to-day.” (p. 3) There is a bit of irony in the fact that even the freedom to freely criticize these civilizations is one of the gifts they passed down to us.

The revised edition of this book came out in 1942, and tried to kindle a light against the darkness that had fallen over the world, that this is what we were fighting for when we confronted the forces of raging inhumanity, the totalitarianism of body and soul. We were fighting for the highest ideals of our civilization, which would be twisted beyond recognition or lost forever if we did not take up the struggle and make whatever sacrifices were necessary in order to win.

The book looks at both individuals, poets, playwrights, historians, and philosophers, and the social forces that shaped them and provided a stage for their ideas. The focus is overwhelmingly on Athens and its citizens, for good reason (quick, name one Spartan who was not a soldier…), and emphasizes that the concepts which we consider fundamental to good citizenship are in fact echoes of Athens. For example, “The state did not take responsibility for the individual Athenian, the individual had to take responsibility for the state...The idea of the Athenian state was a union of individuals free to develop their own powers and live in their own way, obedient only to the laws they passed themselves and could criticize and change at will.” (p. 177)

Edith Hamilton does a fine job explaining both the similarities and the sense of otherness ancient Greek society presents, its pre-modern world of gods and spirits, curses, and fate. We can try to appreciate, but will never fully understand, Agamemnon’s sacrifice of Iphigenia, or why Oedipus had to be pursued by the Furies for crimes he didn’t know he was committing. The genius of these works is that we do not have to understand their society to be awed by the universal, timeless qualities they represent. Agamemnon embodies the concept of duty at any cost, and Oedipus is the eternal innocent man who is raised up and then cast down by fates he cannot comprehend but must accept.

Hamilton discusses the historians, Herodotus and Thucydides, and notes how they created the first modern histories and why they are still worth reading today. Previously what passed for history consisted of obsequious praise of the local thug who happened to be ruling at the time. I first read Herodotus in the lively modern translation by David Greene, and I loved it both for its interesting details and the weirdness of some of its stories. For instance, Herodotus wrote that there are hairy ants larger than foxes that live in India and unearth gold while excavating their nests. You can take it, but when they find out they will pursue you, so you must not only have fast mounts, but they should be mares who have recently given birth, and who will run faster than any others because they want to get back to their foals. That is the kind of story that has made people smile for 2500 years.

I read Thucydides in the translation of a different Green, Peter this time, who is one of my favorite interpreters of the ancient world. His Alexander to Actium, almost a thousand pages of engaging history, is my favorite book on the Hellenistic Age. His Thucydides conveys the spirit of the work, and the two chapters on the Sicilian Expedition are among the most memorable, heartbreaking things I have ever read. Hamilton explains that when Thucydides wrote, he wrote not only the story of his own times, but a timeless discussion of the fates of men. “Underneath the shifting sands of the struggle between two little Greek states he had caught sight of a universal truth. Throughout his book, through the endless petty engagements on sea and land which he relates with such scrupulous care, he is pointing out what war is, why it comes to pass, what it does, and, unless men learn better ways, must continue to do. His History of the Peloponnesian War is really a treatise on war, its causes and its effects.” (p. 166)

The Greek Way remains a classic. First published almost ninety years ago, it is still in print, and for good reason. Though there are books based on more modern scholarship, there is no better introduction to the ancient Greeks, their importance, and their place in modern culture. ...more

3

Dec 08, 2013

Edith Hamilton's The Greek Way is essentially a long opinion piece on why the ancient Greeks matter in the modern world. Ms. Hamilton would assert that in many ways those ancient Greeks are better than their modern counterparts. To be fair she is only using the briefest of moments, Periclean Athens as her metric, but you get some heavy hitters in this flash of classical glory: Socrates, Plato, Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, AEschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Pindar, Aristophanes. This is kind of Edith Hamilton's The Greek Way is essentially a long opinion piece on why the ancient Greeks matter in the modern world. Ms. Hamilton would assert that in many ways those ancient Greeks are better than their modern counterparts. To be fair she is only using the briefest of moments, Periclean Athens as her metric, but you get some heavy hitters in this flash of classical glory: Socrates, Plato, Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, AEschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Pindar, Aristophanes. This is kind of like saying that every city council in America should be made up of politicians like George Washington, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin debating the best way fix potholes in your city. But when Hamilton is not just bloviating about how awesome the Greek idea of form or art is, she does know her subject well and provides many interesting details about these historic personages that you might not know off hand. It does help to be well read, because Hamilton will go at length comparing AEschylus' character Clytemnestra to Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth or Sophocles poetic meter to Milton. And just for the fun of it Hamilton will toss in some quotes from the Old and New Testament to round out her literary analysis. But all in all a good read.

I have to admit, while reading this tome I kept thinking that Edith Hamilton should go on a blind date with Will Durant. ...more

3

Jan 27, 2011

I picked up this book to read with background books on Greece, not realizing that it is not really a history book, but rather a general commentary on Classical Athenian culture. As such, it was a great reference, summarizing and putting into a modern context ancient philosophers,authors, politicians, and historians. The chapter on Herodotus was especially interesting to me! I found Mz. Hamilton's writing to be easy to read and, at times, amusing, and always informative.

The only negative comments I picked up this book to read with background books on Greece, not realizing that it is not really a history book, but rather a general commentary on Classical Athenian culture. As such, it was a great reference, summarizing and putting into a modern context ancient philosophers,authors, politicians, and historians. The chapter on Herodotus was especially interesting to me! I found Mz. Hamilton's writing to be easy to read and, at times, amusing, and always informative.

The only negative comments I would make would be that the book presents itself as a discourse of Greek culture, it really only focuses on a very short (albeit productive) era of Athenian history. As such, it was only really useful in a further understanding of this period, not as a cumulative view of Greek history. She does sometimes seem to overstate what she obviously considers to be the apex of ancient history, comparing it with other civilizations, always to their detriment.

The book makes some interesting comparisons to the Bible, as well, which I would not consider hostile to the Bible and useful in seeing connections between the Greek way of thinking, unique in the ancient world, and the way in which particularly evangelists used Greek culture to further God's message in the first century. ...more

3

Jul 02, 2018

3 stars [Anthropology]
Hamilton writes a decent book on Greek anthropology. The best element is her writing, which is often superb, poetic, and passionate prose of a bygone age. The worst element is that she often sidetracks into subjects she is decidedly not competent in.

Writing: 4; Use: 3.25; Truth: 2; Plot: 3.25 stars.
The writing was 4.5 stars, minus 1/2 star for occasional mixed metaphor, vagueness, and slow passages. The truth category was a composite, of some 3.5 and much 1. Valid points 3 stars [Anthropology]
Hamilton writes a decent book on Greek anthropology. The best element is her writing, which is often superb, poetic, and passionate prose of a bygone age. The worst element is that she often sidetracks into subjects she is decidedly not competent in.

Writing: 4; Use: 3.25; Truth: 2; Plot: 3.25 stars.
The writing was 4.5 stars, minus 1/2 star for occasional mixed metaphor, vagueness, and slow passages. The truth category was a composite, of some 3.5 and much 1. Valid points exist alongside ridiculous oversimplification, cultural hagiography, sloppy philosophy, biblical illiteracy, and ignorance in comparative religion (a topic which she nevertheless covers a fair amount). ...more

4

Mar 20, 2013

This is about ancient Greece. All I wanted to know and forgot about philosophers, artists and the Greek contributions still enjoyed today. Interesting and uncomplicated for example the word 'character' is Greek. To us the word character indicates individual uniqueness, for the Greeks it meant individual integration to society. The book has many of the philosophers long forgotten, yet brought back with vividness and ease........

4

Nov 13, 2008

I read this at around the same time we were made to read her Mythology for freshman English class and during the period I was fulfilling high school foreign language requirements by studying Latin. It was probably my first survey of ancient Greek culture and society and I thoroughly enjoyed it, particularly the part when she pointed out that Greek buildings and statues were originally painted brilliantly, the latter often equipped with glass eyeballs. That blew my mind. It still does.

3

Feb 01, 2019

This is an interesting overview of ancient Greek authors, from poetry to philosophy to history to drama. Hamilton believes that the Greeks were able to be more or less free thinkers because they didn't have an entrenched priesthood, as the Egyptians did. I really enjoyed the parts on history and philosophy, but I was a bit lost in the drama section because I haven't read the plays she covers.

5

Sep 18, 2017

I began this to enrich my trip to Greece. It has enriched my understanding of the world. It's relevance to today's art, literature, and politics continually made me pause to consider my previously deficient understanding. I am so glad I read it at this time. It has helped me gain additional perspective in many fields.