Overview
From Homer's Iliad to a farmer's hard life in the hilly farmlands near Athens, here's an introduction to daily life in Greece 2,500 years ago. Young readers will learn about early democracy, city-states, warfare, religion, and the history of the region. But they will also read about a chariot race, see a cutaway of a typical home, join the bride and groom at a wedding feast, and attend a play at a theater built into a hillside. With color illustrations on every page, this concise and fact-filled introduction to ancient Greece will please even the most reluctant of readers.
Describes various aspects of life in ancient Greece, including religion, government, family life, education, Olympic games, and other entertainments. Also presents captioned pictures of related artifacts.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
Cultures from antiquity spring to life in the Spotlights series of info- and picture-packed paper-over-board volumes. In The Ancient Greeks by Charles Freeman, detailed drawings of artifacts, architecture, weaponry, statuary and dozens of other traditional elements mix with succinct text on society, economy, government, women's roles and even the early Olympics. Other titles in the series include The Romans by John Haywood; The Egyptians by Neil Grant; and going even further back in time, Prehistoric Life by Dougal Dixon. )School Library Journal
Gr 4-6Three ancient civilizations are introduced in these titles. Double-page spreads focus on a particular topic such as cultural and social life, political organization, religion, and warfare. Numerous illustrations and examples of architecture and artifacts related to each topic help to provide further information. The brief, often stilted texts do not provide enough material for reports, but the colorful layout may attract browsers. "Spotlights" alert readers to objects and artifacts that can often be found in museums. For greater eye appeal with similarly limited information, try George Hart's Ancient Egypt (Harcourt, 1989), Simon James's Ancient Rome (Viking, 1992), and Anne Pearson's Ancient Greece (Knopf, 1992).-Cynthia Sturgis, Ledding Library, Milwaukie, ORKirkus Reviews
A quick survey of the highlights of ancient Greece, focusing mainly on the classical period. Each chapter is covered in a two- page spread of several paragraphs of summary, a main illustration with numerous captions pointing to important details, an inset picture and caption, and a row of captioned illustrations of related artifacts.This entry in the Spotlights series is heavily illustrated, well designed, and full of fascinating snippets of information. Though most of the information is readily available in other similar books, the cutaways of ships and buildings are especially good, and the battle maps are unusually clear. An economical look at an intriguing subject.