Quote:
Originally Posted by Chapel-Hill-Coug
There is a book by Sarah Pomeroy that is good.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SeattleUte
The best translations in my opinion are by Stanley Lombardo or Robert Fagles, depending on your taste.
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Don't buy the Pomeroy book. I just got an instructors copy of the second edition and will send you my copy of the first. It's a fine general history of Greece.
You'll never go wrong reading Homer. I agree with SU that these two are the most readable translations. Lombardo is more loyal to the Greek; Fagles' language is more vivid for Anglophones.
For my Greek Civ. class, we use Charles Freeman's
The Greek Achievement. It's simplistic, overgeneralized, and occasionally inaccurate, but then again survey courses are simplistic, overgeneralized, and occasionally inaccurate. I like it because it's intended for the layperson, but not the stupid layperson. It also has nice map/glossary/chronology appendices and is arranged thematically instead of strictly chronologically. He has chapters on art, slavery, relationships (men-women; homosexual), barbarians, etc. in addition to the usual nuts and bolts of war and politics.