A culture of freedom
Subtitle: ancient Greece and the origins of Europe
By: Christian Meier
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Oxford; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 315
ISBN-13: 9780199747405
Subjects: Politics and government; Greek influences; Civilization; Political science; History
Work titles: Kultur, um der Freiheit willen
Description: The book takes us on a tour through the rich spectrum of Greek life and culture, from their epic and lyric poetry, political thought and philosophy, to their social life, military traditions, sport, and religious festivals, and finally to the early stages of Greek democracy. Running as a connecting thread throughout is a people's attempt to create a society based upon the concept of freedom rather than naked power.
Notes: Translation of: Kultur, um der Freiheit willen.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: A most unusual case I : the appropriation of antiquity by medieval and modern Europe; title: The challenge of freedom; title: A most unusual case II : the early conditions of the formation of medieval and early modern culture; title: The constitution of Europe as a continent; title: Greeks and Persians I : freedom and rule-Atossa's dream; title: Europe and Asia in antiquity; title: Antiquity as European prehistory or early history; title: A post-mycenaean new beginning : origins of greek particularity; title: The dawn of an era : the eighth century BC; title: The Greeks and the Orient; title: Colonization; title: Homer and Hesiod; title: Gods and priests; title: Crisis and consolidation : the seventh and sixth centuries BC; title: Polis individualism and the pan-Hellenic context : the agonistic impulse; title: The diversity of the poleis :  Sparta and other cities; title: The wars; title: Polis structure : public sphere and institutions; title: Crisis : aristocratic rivalries, social conflict, tyrannies; title: Lyric poetry, the symposium, and a reorientation towards virtue; title: The beginnings of political thought : the 'middling class'; title: The beginnings of philosophy and science; title: Athens's path towards Isonomia and its rise to power; title: The Aegean world around 500 BC: Greeks and Persians outlook; title: Epilogue.