Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter by Thomas Cahill
ISBN: 0-385-49554-4 (On Amazon)
Cahill takes you through 5 pillars of Greek life as it has shaped the way we as Westerners live today in this history of all of Greek civilization.
He talks about current Western culture and only occasionally talks about the U.S. He takes a very welcoming approach to history, which I liked a lot. The book repeatedly distinguishes itself from the more academic history that I have read in school. For Cahill, Greek culture’s importance stems from its relevance to modern life, and as a result he purposefully draws comparison after comparison to events that might otherwise seem irrelevant to us.
At times his arguments become overly philosophical in my mind, especially when he argues about Greek feelings. I can’t imagine that he knows a lot about how they felt then, and therefore I imagine that he could make them feel whatever helped his argument most. Still, he does not rely too heavily on these philosophical pontifications, but rather seems to drift into his own world for brief moments.
I reccommend the book for anyone interested in history. Even if you object to its linking of the Greeks to today’s events (e.g. the war in Iraq), Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea will make you think about history and its applications to our world.
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