Out of One, Many – Ancient Greek Ways of Thought and Culture

This is a book of remarkable accessibility and scope covering the whole of the ancient Greek experience through an examination of mythology, religion, epics, the arts – especially sculpture and vases - tragic and comic drama, philosophy, and the polis or city state. There are informative critical discussions of literature, drama, history and sport, highlighting the principal contributions of the Greeks as well as the limitations and prejudices of the time. There are chapters on the search for meaning and life after life, where the author notes that the advancement of knowledge begins with the asking of a question, here in a distinctive cultural context, steeped in myth and religion. Crucially, the author characterises the development from a mythical to a philosophical way of approaching the world as corresponding to ‘the change from a receptive self privileged to soak up messages about the world and its sacred stories to an active self capable of analysing the world with no divine assistance or support.’ (p. 328). The epilogue evokes the many ways in which the Greeks are still among us with that legacy and influence.