Greek Culture

“So potent has been the appeal of Greece, so passionate the devotion which it arouses, that there is almost no sphere of spiritual or intellectual activity which has not been touched by its living flame…in the ardent hopes of artists in words or paint or stone to recover a lost youth of the world.”

— C. M. Bowra, The Greek Experience

As I ventured beyond the Judeo-Christian realm, Greece was my first stop. After reading some of Pythagoras, Plato, and Homer, I was immediately captured by the power of the Greek vision. It did not take long to realize, too, that the Greeks had even more influence on the Western world than the Hebrews. Virtually every aspect of human life is explored in the Greek world in some form or another, which makes their cultural sphere the quintessential model of humanity.

PRIMARY SOURCES

  • Cooper, John M., ed. Plato: Complete Works. (Crito, Phaedo, Cratylus, and Theaetetus) Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company, 1997.

  • Lattimore, Richmond, trans. The Iliad of Homer. Chicago & London, The University of Chicago Press, 1961.

  • Lattimore, Richmond, trans. The Odyssey of Homer. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 1967.

  • Macaulay, G. C., trans. Herodotus: The Histories. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2004.

  • West, M. L., trans. Hesiod: Theogony and Works and Days. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.

SECONDARY SOURCES

  • Bowra, C. M. The Greek Experience. Cleveland, OH: The World Publishing Company, 1957.

  • Kahn, Charles H. Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans: A Brief History. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company, 2001.

  • Stanley, Thomas. Pythagoras: His Life and Teachings. Edited by James Wasserman and J. Daniel Gunther. Lake Worth, FL: Ibis Press, 2010.

  • Guthrie, Kenneth Sylvan, trans. The Pythagorean Sourcebook and Library. Edited by David Fideler. Grand Rapids, MI: Phanes Press, 1988.

AUDIO/VISUAL RECORDINGS

  • Alexander the Great and the Macedonian Empire, DVD. Taught by Kenneth W. Harl. The Great Courses, 2010.

  • Classical Archaeology of Ancient Greece and Rome, DVD. Taught by John R. Hale. The Great Courses, 2006.

  • Classical Mythology, DVD. Taught by Elizabeth Vandiver. The Great Courses, 2000.

  • Great Ancient Civilizations of Asia Minor, DVD. Taught by Kenneth W. Harl. The Great Courses, 2001.

  • Great Battles of the Ancient World, DVD. Taught by Garrett G. Fagan. The Great Courses, 2005.

  • Herodotus: The Father of History, DVD, 2 Parts. Taught by Elizabeth Vandiver. The Great Courses, 2002.

  • Masters of Greek Thought: Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle, DVD, 3 Parts. Taught by Robert C. Bartlett. The Great Courses, 2008.

  • Religion in the Ancient Mediterranean World, DVD, 4 Parts. Taught by Glenn S. Holland. The Great Courses, 2005.

  • The Ethics of Aristotle, CD. Taught by Joseph Koterski, S.J. The Great Courses, 2001.

  • The Greek and Persian Wars, CD, 2 Vols. Taught by John R. Hale. The Great Courses, 2008.

  • The Iliad of Homer, DVD. Taught by Elizabeth Vandiver. The Great Courses, 1999.

  • The Long Shadow of the Ancient Greek World, DVD, 3 Parts. Taught by Ian Worthington. The Great Courses, 2009.

  • The Peloponnesian War, CD, 3 Parts. Taught by Kenneth W. Harl. The Great Courses, 2007.