La Grecia classica

Routledge History of the Ancient World

by Simon Hornblower

Nel 480 a.C. i Persiani invasero la Grecia: se avessero prevalso la storia del mondo sarebbe cambiata. Un secolo e mezzo dopo, con la conquista dell'Asia da parte di Alessandro Magno, furono i Persiani e l'Oriente a soccombere: venne aperta così la strada all’Ellenismo e poi all'Impero romano. Tra questi due termini cronologici si colloca l’età classica della civiltà greca, l'età della democrazia ateniese e della letteratura e delle arti che educarono il mondo antico. Oggetto del libro di Hornblower è appunto l’età classica, cui è riservata una trattazione in chiave squisitamente storica, tanto attenta agli eventi, quanto sensibile alle realtà strutturali (l'economia, la società, la politica), così come alle dinamiche culturali. Aggiornatissima e avveduta sul piano della critica e dell’interpretazione, l’opera si rivolge peraltro al pubblico colto e non agli specialisti. Potranno però giovarsene anche studenti e docenti della scuola e dell’università. In generale, per chi legga i grandi classici della letteratura, o sia interessato alle forme politiche della città-stato, ovvero intenda informarsi su figure quali Pericle, Filippo il Macedone o Alessandro Magno, le pagine di Hornblower si qualificano come un punto di riferimento prezioso, che non ha eguali nell'attuale panorama editoriale. Particolare rilievo viene dato ai rapporti internazionali (in primis a quello fra Atene e Persia) che sono considerati elemento chiave della dinamica storica e di cui l’autore riesce a rendere evidenti le motivazioni e il senso. Nuova è anche la scelta di utilizzare sistematicamente, accanto alle grandi fonti storiografiche (Erodoto, Tucidide, Senofonte), i molti dati forniti dall’archeologia e dalle iscrizioni.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Greece, Classics, Ancient History

546 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Simon Hornblower is Professor of Classics and Grote Professor of Ancient History at University College London.

Born in 1949, he was educated at Jesus College, Cambridge, and Balliol College, Oxford, where he took a DPhil in 1978.

In 1971 he was elected to a Prize Fellowship of All Souls College, which he held until 1977. From 1978 until 1997, he was University Lecturer in Ancient History at the University of Oxford and Fellow and Tutor in Classics at Oriel College, Oxford, including one year, 1994/95, in which he was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He moved to University College London in September 1997, where he was Senior Lecturer before being appointed Professor of Classics, then Professor of Ancient History in 2006.

He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2004.

His current focus is classical Greek historiography (especially Herodotus and Thucydides) and the relation between historical texts as literature and as history. He has published two volumes of a historical and literary commentary on Thucydides (Oxford University Press, 1991 and 1996) and the third and final volume will be published in late 2008. His latest book is Thucydides and Pindar: Historical Narrative and the World of Epinikian Poetry (2004). He is also co-editor, with Professor Cathy Morgan of King's College London, Pindar's Poetry, Patrons, and Festivals: From Archaic Greece to the Roman Empire (Oxford University Press, 2007).

Since 1979 he has been involved with the ongoing project Lexicon of Greek Personal Names and in 2000 co-edited a book called Greek Personal Names: their Value as Evidence (Oxford University Press for the British Academy).

He co-edited the new (3rd edn, 1996) Oxford Classical Dictionary.

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book from a friend, who was clearing out her library from university courses. I had already read, in the distant mists of time, Hornblower's commentary on Thucudides (only the first volume was out in the late 90s when I used it for a Master's paper) and was generally impressed with Dr. Hornblower's writing. This volume didn't disappoint with a careful analysis of both familiar and unfamiliar sources for the Greek Classical age. It was nice to be reminded of the familiar Persian War and Peloponnesian War narratives, but more useful was Hornblower's analysis of other cities than Athens (especially a useful piece on that city of mystery, Argos) and the much neglected (and messy!) 4th century. It is a useful guide through this period.

[Ryan Schaller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book about the Greeks in the 5th and 4th century, but I would only recommend it to people who already have a decent understanding of the events and people of that period. Professor Hornblower's major work is a three volume commentary on Thucydides designed for students/professors working with the original Greek of Thucydides. Because of this expertise, Hornblower is able to give an extremely nuanced view of various matters. I found several of his observations to be inciteful and he made me think about a few things in a different manner.

In my opinion, you definitely want to have read Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, the relevant Lives of Plutarch and one or two more general histories before tackling this.

[Eleanor Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

simpler times ,,**jokes*

[Ems Dawson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is dreadful! Its so dry and dull and impossible to get into. I kept falling asleep.You have to really want to absorb everything to glean anything from this book and even then you'll struggle.

whenever I put it down (for a much needed rest) I came away feeling cross and all I could remember about it was the amount of concentration needed to remain awake and focused. It is the literary equivalent of a challenging mountain climb with non of the satisfaction at reaching the summit.

This book has the power to damage an interest in the subject by presenting a one dimensional approach.

[Peyton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hornblower’s expertise on the subject is evident as he weaves together a wide variety of literary and epigraphic sources to construct his narrative of the Classical Greek world. I will say his writing style can be rough at times as he often interrupts himself with parenthetical comments and references. I think a lot of these would have worked better as endnotes to help the narrative flow more smoothly.

[Jacques · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dense, lots of footnotes. This book is not about giving you the history, but about discussing the various sources and debating the sticking points ("Were the Athenians more concerned about Theban or Argive threats in 365?").

It's also not very well written. I kinda enjoyed the sections about things I already know, but not the rest.

[Caracalla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not user-friendly but as it's a primarily an undergraduate text-book, I guess the reader should expect some difficulty in using it. It makes a real virtue of keeping the Hellenic panorama in mind even when dealing with the fifth century and its focus on Athens and Sparta. Early chapters appraise you of the situation in areas like Argos, Megale Hellas and the North and it becomes difficult to relate all the information from the accounts on the different phases of war to these earlier chapters as the book progresses. Otherwise, the precision, depth and subtlety of the analysis is not obvious but definitely there and on a subject I'm very well-versed in and on which there is a lot of academic material, Megale Hellas and the Sicilian Expedition of 415, Hornblower has a lot that is interesting and new to say. The fourth century is an unfamiliar area for me but a speciality of Hornblower and having read this, I think I probably won't ever venture further in my study of it (characteristics that just show it to be a fairly chaotic period: the cultural and economic winddown; the mad, unideologically-inflected scrabbles for hegemony/imperial authority by Thebes, Sparta, Athens; the deadening of political culture particularly in Athens; Persia's distant attempts at establishing some order and then Philip's leap into the power vacuum). Hornblower's main effort is for an accurate and balanced narrative account so nothing too general is ever drawn out; his interests don't extend much further than politics and there's nothing much on culture: but for the student of Greek history, I guess it's enough that he's made balanced and well-justified judgements and developed a very rigorous account. Interesting uses of sources like Pindar (c.f. his later Thucydides and Pindar) and Diodorus and interesting that he tends towards credulousness on the grounds that anything wrong would be subject to criticism.

[Goo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read a few chapters of this while reading Thucydides.

It seems like a fine reference that I might return to in the future.

[AskHistorians]

A frequently used overview, written by a top scholar. Hornblower also pays a nice amount of attention to cities other than Athens and Sparta.