Ancient Greek Civilization

by Jeremy McInerney

Course Lecture Titles 1. Greece and the Western World 2. Minoan Crete 3. Schliemann and Mycenae 4. The Long Twilight 5. The Age of Heroes 6. From Sicily to Syria—The Growth of Trade and Colonization 7. Delphi and Olympia 8. The Spartans 9. Revolution 10. Tyranny 11. The Origins of Democracy 12. Beyond Greece—The Persian Empire 13. The Persian Wars 14. The Athenian Empire 15. The Art of Democracy 16. Sacrifice and Greek Religion 17. Theater and the Competition of Art 18. Sex and Gender 19. The Peloponnesian War, Part I 20. The Peloponnesian War, Part II 21. Socrates on Trial 22. Slavery and Freedom 23. Athens in Decline? 24. Philip, Alexander, and Greece in Transition

Genres: History, Audiobook, Nonfiction, Greece, Ancient History, Ancient, Historical

Audio Cassette

Published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have listened to many of the Great Courses and find University of Pennsylvania's Jeremey McInerney the most stimulating lecturer I have encountered thus far. His passion for his subject is contagious. Yet, he maintains a critical distance, which he employs in his analysis of the Greek world and its impact on western culture.

Dr. McInerney is an anthropologist trained in archeology. He brings his extensive knowledge of Minoan Crete and Mycenae to life with lively stories of the initial digs and precise, accessible analysis of the interpretation of the archeological evidence accompanied by photos of the sites.

His lectures on Athenian social and political history are equally engaging. He examines the origins of direct democracy for all male citizens and the consequences of this full male participation model for women and slaves. He also assesses the role of war through the eyes of Greek Historian Herodotus and Thuclydicies and assesses these men's contributions to the discipline of history. Dr. McInerney also explores Greek religion, philosophy, theater, art and architecture, sex, gender, and the daily lives of women, metics ( foreigners), and slaves. This comprehensive course is inspiring and made me want to visit Greece and learn more.

[Irena Pasvinter · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent overview of Ancient Greek history and culture from prehistoric times to the 4th century BCE (conquest of Greece by Alexander the Great). Even though I recently listened to more detailed courses on most of the topics covered in this course, I enjoyed Jeremy McIrney's lectures. His presentation is engaging and mentally stimulating. He provides a lot of interesting interpretations and also some new information. I loved how whenever he spoke about his own opinions, he always presented a few competing theories as well.

I've already listened to his course "The Age of Pericles" (excellent), and I will be sure to listen to his other courses as well.

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Overview, Well Presented Lectures
Why couldn't we have had history audiobooks when I was a kid? It's a brilliant and accessible way to get your history fix from engaging professors while living your daily life, without having to sit down to some heavy tome before bed. We are planning a long-postponed trip to Rome, Italy, one of the cradles of classical Western civilization, and I realized that in order to understand Rome, you must first know something about classic Greek civilization, which so heavily influenced and inspired its politics, religion, values, art, philosophy, and overall culture.

This series of lectures provide a good overview, not delving too deep into the details but also providing engaging insights into the why's of Greek civilization, not just a dry litany of names, dates, leaders, and battles. So it's more of a teaser and gateway to further study, but as I really need to dive into Roman civilization, it's a perfect primer.

[Beyonder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic set of lectures that kept me pretty well engaged. I had absorbed a surprising amount of historical detail from the Peloponnesian war while playing 80+ hours of Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, Hellenistic Greek culture from Assassin's Creed: Origins, and various helpful Homeric Mythological references from Madeline Miller's Circe & Song of Achilles. I actually found myself surprisingly well-prepared for the academic discussion, recognizing names and events throughout.

Nonetheless the speaker was nuanced and entertaining while also being just a fantastic historian. Great read!

[Galina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This lecture is the first one I did from The Great Courses. I found it very engaging, the lectures are not dry (there are dates, but just enough to give an idea of chronology and understand better the timing between the events), provide good level of details (not too deep, but not shallow either), and are overall very entertaining. The comparison between Ancient Greek stage comedy and the comedy of Monty Python was enlightening (the Athenians did have a good sense of humour then). Definitely going to be checking out more lectures from the Great Courses in general, and by prof.McInerney in particular.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful review of Greek culture and history by a lecturer who is both knowledgeable and passionate about his subject, and who is also not shy about highlighting the more problematic aspects of the culture he is discussing. On to his course about Alexander and the Hellenistic Age, since it's only available through the Plus Catalog through the end of this month!

[Mircah Foxwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

The lecturer was excellent - well spoken and interesting to listen to. A great introduction to Greek history and culture.

[Matt Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

The lectures were absolutely amazing. I learned so much about a society that helped to develop societies for the future. I wish more of this topic was taught in school.

[Alfia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Depressing but interesting take on Ancient Greece. Takeaways? No slaves, no "glory that was..". Women are dangerous livestock. Weakness invites predation. No matter how smart and well-meaning you are, if you don't have the right friends they can take you down and kill you. If you don't know about Milman Parry (google him - interesting!) and his contribution to the reinterpretation of Homeric myth, you'll learn something about that here. There's a super-quick synopsis of some of Greek philosophy. Otherwise a standard history of Ancient Greece, mostly about socio-political organization, economics, and wars.

Some new info for me:
- Solon of Athens was a pretty baller leader and the first guy to establish the beginnings of democratic rule of law in Greece, which he did by creating constituencies made up of *all* (non-slave, non-female) citizens, not just the richest guys. He also instituted economic and moral reforms which were apparently revolutionary for Ancient Greece.
- Hesiod (our primary source for info. on early Greek mythology) allegedly included a bunch of Middle Eastern (Semitic) myth into the stories about Zeus, i.e. many stories of Zeus's exploits came from elsewhere.

It made me sad thinking that there are no doubt many guys who read the creepy and misogynist (oh and violence-glorifying) garbage coming out of this culture and think, "Yeah, those were the good old days. Let's go back to *that*." *Shudder* That's not to say it's all creepy, misogynist, violence-glorifying garbage - obviously not - but this series of lectures certainly highlighted those aspects.

I listened to this as an audiobook. The narrator is a professor and he is a real hoot. I never knew that an Australian accent could sound so snooty! lol.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fantastic set of lectures by Jeremy McInerney, nearly as good as his Pericles course, perhaps a little bit less detailed. Same enthusiasm, same clarity of address, same brilliance. Covers a lot of ground from Minoan to Hellenistic times.

However this course is only 4/5 stars because the audio quality is truly awful. The tape to digital transfer has brought a lot of popping with it and it is very off putting when listening with earbuds. The Teaching Company need to get their old recording cleaned up. It is definitely a problem with the Audible file not my equipment, I have tested it on multiple devices and speakers.

[Michael P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent introduction to ancient Greek civilization, though best heard in succession with Rufus J. Fears FAMOUS GREEKS lectures. Fears teaches the micro, famous Greek people, and McInerney teaches the macro with the people covered by Fears as a part of the overall period in Greek history. Hearing both brings a wonderful balance to the subject.

[Turki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. McInerney doesn't merely give you bits and pieces of scattered information and expects you to actually know what is the Ancient Greek Civilization, but rather gives you a full picture with some really deep analysis that one could only admire, and enjoy every second of the course.

[Salim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like other great courses, it wouldn't disappoint anyone wanting to know more about ancient Greek civilization. It talks about the major events from formation till the end of the ancient Greek civilization. I would recommend it to anyone before visiting Greece/Athens.

[Dennis Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I last listened to Ancient Greek Civilization by Jeremy McInerney nearly a decade ago, and I don't think I appreciated it to the extent that I should have. McInerney is a great instructor, but he's not a traditional classicist. He comes across as a classical sociologist, and his approach is informed more than a little by that form of critique. Some of it, I imagine, will need to be redone in light of some more recent work - which has only strengthened Herodotus as an authoritative source - but others remain rather strongly valid. Its an interesting contrast from some of the more traditional classicists, which I also adore. A multitude of perspectives can't hurt, and I have a feeling I'll be looking forward listening to his other courses real soon.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I greatly enjoyed listening to this overview of Ancient Greek civilization.

Partway in, though, I noticed a blaring error in the description of the origins of their alphabet. “Isn’t it amazing that the Greeks borrowed a logographic system from the Phoenicians and made an alphabet?!” Yes — it’s quite unbelievable indeed! Because it isn’t true (the Phoenicians already had an alphabet for writing consonants. The Greeks’ development was writing vowels, not *inventing the concept of the alphabet*).

This exaggeration of the ingenuity of the Greeks makes me a bit suspicious of other biases or incomplete bits of information in this course, but I know too little to identify anything else.

[Marc Audet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent overview of ancient Greek culture and history, comprehensive without burying the student in details. Prof. McInerney balances the classical sources such as Herodotus and Thucydides with recent archeological findings that shed new light on the ancients. Previous to this course, I listened to courses by Prof. Elizabeth Vandiver (Herodotus, Iliad). Prof. McInerney's course helped to increase my understanding of the more specific treatments by Prof. Vandiver. Both of these professors are excellent and well worth the time spent with their courses.

[Lena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found a lot of interesting books when I discovered all the free audio books from The great courses on Audible! This was one of them.

A few of the things I remember was how democracy worked. They worked on the city council for 1 year, then had to wait for 10 years until they could do it again. A jury had hundreds to 1500 people on it.

I've been to Greece 3 times years ago. I wish I had known all this when I went there!

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, this was great, probably my favorite of everybody I've listened to so far in my adventures through the Great Courses series. McInerney is such a compelling lecturer, I felt like I still came away knowing new things about this subject even though it went over a lot of topics with which I was already familiar. I'm looking forward to listening to his other courses on the Age of Pericles and Alexander the Great!

[Agne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this course a lot. Jeremy McInerney is such a great and engaging lecturer, one of my favorites. There were interesting perspectives, anecdotes, and other things in lectures that made the Ancient Greeks feel very human, not the impression you get from school history or some movies of remote, heightened historical figures.

[Gebo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative series and I've studied a lot of Greek culture. I learned a few things I didn't know and this series really helped me to rethink the Peloponnesian Wars and their place in Greek culture. Great series for anyone interested in the topic.

[Brady Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not exactly a ‘book’ per se - more of a history lecture. Pretty interesting and informative, though I had to take it in chunks.

[Elissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great classical history review. I enjoyed it very much, and am a big fan of the Great Courses series. It makes doing the dishes and vacuuming while listening almost happy.

[Jules Brugel · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent lecture series, by an excellent lecturer

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful overview of he Ancient Greek civilization and I loved how he covered a lot of time periods a that are normal skipped over.

[Todd Cheng · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the ability to listen to one of these before travel to a country and flirt with the historical events that shaped the country.

[DrBabić · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed listening while visiting Greece.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly insightful, wonderful narration. I loved the lecturer's attitude and the sheer respect to the past, the culture, good or bad. Loved listening to it!

[Ne Na · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great listen, excellent refresher.

[HatBett23 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first Bill Clinton joke dates this lecture a bit.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent lecturer!