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Ancient Greece
Sail on an Athenian ship, discover how the philosopher Socrates ended up in a prison cell, and find out why young Athenians burned their toys in this delightful recreation of life in 5th-century B.C. Ancient Greece features the illustrations of Peter Connolly, a world-renowned artist of the
ancient world, and artifacts, maps, and photographs from the region. All aspects of life in the city are revealed, as we see Athenians in their homes, at the theatre, at work, at worship, and at play. A fascinating and accessible exploration of the most advanced culture of the ancient world,
Ancient Greece is a perfect introduction for children ages eight and up.
ancient world, and artifacts, maps, and photographs from the region. All aspects of life in the city are revealed, as we see Athenians in their homes, at the theatre, at work, at worship, and at play. A fascinating and accessible exploration of the most advanced culture of the ancient world,
Ancient Greece is a perfect introduction for children ages eight and up.
- GenresNonfictionHistory
64 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 7, 2023
The cooperation between Connolly and Oxford University Press always bears wonderful fruits. This work is no exception. It’s probably the most beautiful introduction to classical Athens for readers of all ages.
And this should be sold as that, not ancient Greece. It barely have information on any other city (except a few commentaries regarding the Persian invasion and the Peloponnesian war against Sparta) and a single (but excellent) illustration of a Spartan Hoplite. The rest of the book is completely devoted to Athenian architecture, systems of government, daily lives, sports, plays and competitions, foodstuff, economy, law, clothing, etc. All brilliantly illustrated by Connolly providing an extremely accurate glimpse of how a man or a woman would live in the 5th century BC.
Particularly impressive are the procession scenes, the reproductions of the painted reliefs on the Parthenon and other monuments (the images really come to life!), the images of the clothing and hairdressing styles, the tools and furniture used by Athenians, the specialized vases for each occasion, the cutaway scenes of houses and monuments and how they were built; the images of hoplites, a naval battle and the battle of Marathon also remind us of the constant state of warfare in ancient Athens. All those illustrations and many more turn this book into an impressive visual reference, although several were used in other Connolly works (and there are even some images repeated in this book (such as the dialus player).
Several small imprecisions (somewhat excusable in an introductory work such as this), just like the question of Drachma being the official coin “today” in Greece (this book is from 2001, year when Greece joined the Euro by the 1st of January; although they could still use Drachma, the official coinage was the Euro by the time this book was published), the misleading title of the book, the reuse of art pieces or the omission of the name of the author, steal one star from this beautiful book that I can only highly recommend.
And this should be sold as that, not ancient Greece. It barely have information on any other city (except a few commentaries regarding the Persian invasion and the Peloponnesian war against Sparta) and a single (but excellent) illustration of a Spartan Hoplite. The rest of the book is completely devoted to Athenian architecture, systems of government, daily lives, sports, plays and competitions, foodstuff, economy, law, clothing, etc. All brilliantly illustrated by Connolly providing an extremely accurate glimpse of how a man or a woman would live in the 5th century BC.
Particularly impressive are the procession scenes, the reproductions of the painted reliefs on the Parthenon and other monuments (the images really come to life!), the images of the clothing and hairdressing styles, the tools and furniture used by Athenians, the specialized vases for each occasion, the cutaway scenes of houses and monuments and how they were built; the images of hoplites, a naval battle and the battle of Marathon also remind us of the constant state of warfare in ancient Athens. All those illustrations and many more turn this book into an impressive visual reference, although several were used in other Connolly works (and there are even some images repeated in this book (such as the dialus player).
Several small imprecisions (somewhat excusable in an introductory work such as this), just like the question of Drachma being the official coin “today” in Greece (this book is from 2001, year when Greece joined the Euro by the 1st of January; although they could still use Drachma, the official coinage was the Euro by the time this book was published), the misleading title of the book, the reuse of art pieces or the omission of the name of the author, steal one star from this beautiful book that I can only highly recommend.
May 26, 2020
Should actually be called Ancient Athens, none of the rest of Greece gets a look in. Also it’s a cultural history, there’s very little about war except for a couple of pages on the defences of Athens. Given all that it’s a very good book. It doesn’t suffer from the normal issue of children’s books that each topic can only take a two page spread which means it can go into more depth and the book flows well. How we know about Athens is also mentioned a few times with talk of archaeology and finds which is nice to see in a book aimed at children. The illustrations are also excellent. A mixture of reconstructions, maps artefacts and very clear copies of art from vases.
November 6, 2020
Excellent, educational summary. There were even less naked statues than other books about Ancient Greece.
December 7, 2023
The cooperation between Connolly and Oxford University Press always bears wonderful fruits. This work is no exception. It’s probably the most beautiful introduction to classical Athens for readers of all ages.
And this should be sold as that, not ancient Greece. It barely have information on any other city (except a few commentaries regarding the Persian invasion and the Peloponnesian war against Sparta) and a single (but excellent) illustration of a Spartan Hoplite. The rest of the book is completely devoted to Athenian architecture, systems of government, daily lives, sports, plays and competitions, foodstuff, economy, law, clothing, etc. All brilliantly illustrated by Connolly providing an extremely accurate glimpse of how a man or a woman would live in the 5th century BC.
Particularly impressive are the procession scenes, the reproductions of the painted reliefs on the Parthenon and other monuments (the images really come to life!), the images of the clothing and hairdressing styles, the tools and furniture used by Athenians, the specialized vases for each occasion, the cutaway scenes of houses and monuments and how they were built; the images of hoplites, a naval battle and the battle of Marathon also remind us of the constant state of warfare in ancient Athens. All those illustrations and many more turn this book into an impressive visual reference, although several were used in other Connolly works (and there are even some images repeated in this book (such as the dialus player).
Several small imprecisions (somewhat excusable in an introductory work such as this), just like the question of Drachma being the official coin “today” in Greece (this book is from 2001, year when Greece joined the Euro by the 1st of January; although they could still use Drachma, the official coinage was the Euro by the time this book was published), the misleading title of the book, the reuse of art pieces or the omission of the name of the author, steal one star from this beautiful book that I can only highly recommend.
And this should be sold as that, not ancient Greece. It barely have information on any other city (except a few commentaries regarding the Persian invasion and the Peloponnesian war against Sparta) and a single (but excellent) illustration of a Spartan Hoplite. The rest of the book is completely devoted to Athenian architecture, systems of government, daily lives, sports, plays and competitions, foodstuff, economy, law, clothing, etc. All brilliantly illustrated by Connolly providing an extremely accurate glimpse of how a man or a woman would live in the 5th century BC.
Particularly impressive are the procession scenes, the reproductions of the painted reliefs on the Parthenon and other monuments (the images really come to life!), the images of the clothing and hairdressing styles, the tools and furniture used by Athenians, the specialized vases for each occasion, the cutaway scenes of houses and monuments and how they were built; the images of hoplites, a naval battle and the battle of Marathon also remind us of the constant state of warfare in ancient Athens. All those illustrations and many more turn this book into an impressive visual reference, although several were used in other Connolly works (and there are even some images repeated in this book (such as the dialus player).
Several small imprecisions (somewhat excusable in an introductory work such as this), just like the question of Drachma being the official coin “today” in Greece (this book is from 2001, year when Greece joined the Euro by the 1st of January; although they could still use Drachma, the official coinage was the Euro by the time this book was published), the misleading title of the book, the reuse of art pieces or the omission of the name of the author, steal one star from this beautiful book that I can only highly recommend.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews