Greek to us : the fascinating ancient Greek that shapes our world /
"Ancient Greek lives on in our culture in surprising ways. Sometimes funny--the world for an actor, hupokrites, gives us 'hypocrite'; sometimes beautiful--an astronaut is literally 'a mariner of the stars'. And then there are all the myths we see depicted in art galleries, s...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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London ; New York :
Bloomsbury Continuum,
2025.
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| Summary: | "Ancient Greek lives on in our culture in surprising ways. Sometimes funny--the world for an actor, hupokrites, gives us 'hypocrite'; sometimes beautiful--an astronaut is literally 'a mariner of the stars'. And then there are all the myths we see depicted in art galleries, such as The Rape of Europa (who gave her name to Europe) and The Death of Actaeon, or in sculpture, such as Michelangelo's Bacchus and The Venus di Milo. This is a learned but always entertaining journey through the world of the Ancient Greeks, their extraordinary language and how it has shaped our own understanding of the world today. After all, what is language but the frame through which we understand the world? Davie aims to bring more than just humour, he seeks to trace the thread of ancient Greek thought that runs through our own civilization, always with the lightness of touch and fascinating etymology. We meet Eros and Aphrodite, Alexander the Great and Oscar Wilde, the stoics, Epicurus and Sparta. While this is a book about language and the touching and illuminating presence of the ancient Greeks in our current words, it's also about how Ancient Greece shapes our culture today"-- |
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| Item Description: | "Foreword by Harry Mount"--Cover. |
| Physical Description: | xxvii, 256 pages : illustrations (black and white), maps (black and white) ; 23 cm |
| ISBN: | 9781399424790 1399424793 |