Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea

Why the Greeks Matter

By: Thomas Cahill

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Best selling history writer Thomas Cahill continues his series on the roots of Western civilization with this volume about the contributions of ancient Greece to the development of contemporary culture. Tracing the origin of Greek culture in the migrations of armed Indo-European horsemen into Attica and the Peloponnesian peninsula, he follows their progress into the creation of the Greek city-states, the refinement of their machinery of war, and the flowering of intellectual and artistic culture. Cahill credits the Greeks with creating Western militarism, shaping Christianity, and giving us the intellectual foundations on which we base everything from dictionaries to filing systems. Cahill ably demonstrates the fascinating uniqueness of ancient Greek culture, but also shows its startling reincarnations in contemporary contexts.

©2003 Thomas Cahill (P)2003 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

"He writes in an easy, relaxed vernacular. And he enjoys himself.' (The New York Times)
"In this elegant introduction to Greek life and thought, Cahill provides the same majestic historical survey he has already offered for the Irish, the Jews and the Christians...Cahill gracefully opens up a world that has provided so much of Western culture's characteristic way of thinking." (Publishers Weekly)
"Extraordinarily knowledgeable, informal in tone, amusing, wide-ranging, smartly paced....A rich, lively presentation." (New York Times Book Review)

Decent introductory material

This is not the book to listen to if you are looking for an in-depth review of Greek history and culture. If, however, like me, you are looking for a refresher on the Greeks before diving into serious history (or if you're a beginner looking for a good starting point to delve into the Greeks) then this is the book for you. I enjoyed the narrator.

Interesting, enjoyable and enlightening

He paints a clear and enjoyable pictures of where we started and a portion of our journey.

Super super

This is a really super summary of ancient Greek history. While thoroughly entertaining and educational, it allowed me to put into perspective all the scattered information I had gathered through a lifetime about classical Greece. Finally, I understood the mythology and the Greek writers and philosphers. All the bits of information I had never really understood came together and made enjoyable sense in Cahill's terrific book.

Disappointing

It's no How the Irish Saved Civilization. It probably would be helpful as an introduction to classic Greek influence, but I think the best way to learn about the Greeks is to simply read the Greeks.

Footnotes???

Why, why, why doesn't the reader include the very interesting footnotes? Not the first time I've encountered and complained about this.

The history

I really enjoyed the history of Greece. It was very interesting. Sure I didn’t like hearing some of the icky bits but overall it was very good.

Author too taken with himself

I wanted a history of Greece. What I got was the author proving how smart he was to understand Home.

Not what I expected

I thought it would be about what the Greeks discovered about science and farming or devices. The book went on and on about Greek mythology and literature with some philosophy added all narrated by a man with a lovely British accent that unfortunately only added to the supercilious tone of the writing. I managed to finally finish listening to it but I cannot say I enjoyed it at all.