I am not a very big reader. I read this book and fell in love with it. It has a lot of everthing:romance, comedy,and pure poetry. After reading the story, my class and I put on a play of this book, everyone enjoyed it of all ages. So if you are not a big reader like me read this book you will change your mind.

This edition was very helpful to me because I didn't always understand what the original text meant, so reading the modern version right after the old version was very helpful. The book was one of my favorites - it's such a comedy! The characters are so unique and interesting. I definitely reccomend this book to everyone - it's short and doesn't take long to read, but so lasting and classic!

It was a riveting and classical masterpiece with an enchanted twist of creative and whimsical imagination.A timeless tale!

Whip through a couple of these short plays and fragments by the father of Greek New Comedy, and you'll see just how much our more modern formats are indebted to him: the American sit-com, the romantic comedy, etc. Menander manages much less simplistic resolution at the end of his plays, though, and it's too bad that this trend hasn't endured as well as the penchant for the "happily ever after" that we face at the close of every Julia Roberts movie.

The plays themselves are marvelous. In "Old Cantankerous," the grumpy title character stands in the way of a love between two of the play's characters, until the plot sends him down a well. His rescuer is, of course, the man who wants the old curmudgeon's daughter's hand in marriage, and they make up and all's well. "The Girl from Samos" is funnier, with a baby mix-up that leads first to the normal questions of the father's identity, but then to far less normal questions about the mother's identity.

Miller's introduction is exceptional, and I was especially appreciative of it, since I am not a classicist. She provides enough background to initiate even the casual reader, and in a manner that is both humorous and accessible. She explains what can be explained and accounted for, and freely admits to what is pure conjecture; since Menander's plays survive only in fragments, and since we don't know all of the concrete facts of his life, Miller's candor is welcome and helpful.

The only thing I found off-putting was the translation. It is not only VERY contemporary, but VERY British. While I can understand the urge to place things in a more familiar setting--an easy way to remind people that great drama is always timely--some of the dialogue sounds lifted from "Chariots of Fire" or even "Goodbye Mr. Chips." That is, it sounds very early twentieth century British, and I spent a lot of time while reading trying to figure out why (I'm still stumped). Phrases such as "There's a good chap," and explicit references to "Picadilly Circus" just didn't seem to mesh with plays that are Greek and a couple thousand years old.

Still, you could a lot worse than spend $12 on a fine collection and very readable rendition of some of the very foundations of comic form in Western literature.

I'm a Classical Civilisations student at Leeds University in England and this book is one of many that I have to read for my course. Menander was said to be "second only to Homer" and it is clear why this statement was made in this translation by Norma Miller. This book contains all but two of the fragments found of Menander. Old Cantankerous really stands out as a superb piece of literary genius, although this isnt to say that the rest of the book isnt an equally great piece of work. This book contains fragments of Menander's work as this is all that has been found of this magnificent writers accomplishments, if you are interested in classical drama then this book is definetley worth considering.

I'm a Classical Civilisations student at Leeds University in England and this book is one of many that I have to read for my course. Menander was said to be "second only to Homer" and it is clear why this statement was made in this translation by Norma Miller. This book contains all but two of the fragments found of the ancient writer and as such is a marvel to read for anyone interested in classical drama. Old Cantankerous really stands out as a superb piece of literary work and could take pride of place on anyone's book shelf. Although some of his plays are fragmentary and are therefore not always complete, Menander's writing style is both gripping and humerous and keeps the reader enthrawled throughout their classical experience.

A very good coffee-table book about the Olympic Games. Excellent photography, text, and results of all the Olympic Games.

If you're looking for one book to have in your collection, this is an excellent choice. I hope there will be an update in the future!

A real compendium of information for the armchair buff or visiting Olympics spectator. Each Olympic games, both summer and winter is covered. It is lavishly illustrated - the stories are told via the pictures which are all well-captioned.

As well, there is a comprehensive list of results (Gold Silver and Bronze medal winners) for every event in every games.

This is the definitive Olympics compendium and I thoroughly recommend it.

A great book for anybody looking to get a reference for the olympic games. Long time back i was looking for the same but i got nothing, now " The Olympic Games " gave me the chance. The result of all competitions in the entire summer and winter olympics really comprehensive, text and pictures were useful and enjoyable. I feel no sorry that i got this reference.

In this series of essays, the author explores the nature of the Athenian democracy in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., which he persuasively argues was the "real thing," as opposed to the passive form that "We the People" now enjoy. The author goes to considerable effort to discredit the notion that there are "objective" views of history, preferring to emphasize the ideological filtering that inevitably occurs. In keeping with that line of thought, many of the essays take issue with any number of positions that misunderstand the nature of the Athenian democratic experiment.

The point of many critics is that regardless of the formal structure of a state, a narrow elite invariably governs or controls affairs, which is commonly know as the "Iron Law of Oligarchy." However, the author goes to great pains to demonstrate that economic inequality in the private realm was not allowed to overpower the Assembly of citizens, the native-born males of the Athens city-state. In addition, the protection of the dignity of all citizens was of utmost importance to all with the crime of hubris directed towards citizens by elites viewed as especially egregious. Most of the executive and judicial bodies were determined by rotation and by lottery, diminishing the possibility of an entrenched bureaucracy. Of course, educated elites with good speaking ability could be highly influential within assemblies, but they had to operate within the discursive context of the demos, the body of citizens.

A further misunderstanding is that the Athenian democracy was constitutional, that it was based on the rule of law and the separation of powers, in essence, a division of sovereignty with the legal system as the trump card. But the Athenian democracy was not based on a founding document or on an overriding concept such as "natural rights." Athenian citizens did not gain their political standing primarily through political institutions. The Athenian democracy had a socio-political context. Decisions made by the Assembly and judicial bodies were based on broad social standards as understood by the general citizenry and not on "established doctrines." The legalese that pervades today's legal system and acts as a barrier to average citizens' participation was not a part of Athenian judicial or legislative proceedings. Athenians relied upon their collective wisdom and individual common sense to make sound judgments. The author regards this as a "pragmatic" approach to governance.

The notion of democracy has taken on all manner of meaning in today's world. For some, it is voting every few years with no political input otherwise. It is even suggested that the right to shop freely is democracy at work. Businesses have taken to suggesting that they operate on democratic principles. None of these highly limited notions of democracy come close to realizing the level of citizenship and empowerment of Athenian citizens of 2500 years ago. That is not the theme of this book, but the stark contrast can hardly go unnoticed.

This is a fairly scholarly work. The author is not reluctant to sprinkle about Greek terminology, though usually with some definition at first usage. There is a sense of an ongoing dialogue with other academics with alternative views, which has resulted in some keen insights into some aspects of the Athens city-state. But because of the essay format, this is not a work that systematically describes all of the political facets of the Athenian city-state. As a reader interested in democracy, I found the book to be very interesting.

This book is not a new description of the constitutional framework of Athenian democracy: it's about how, after what the author thinka was a popular uprising (led by a scion of the old aristocracy) against Spartan satellization and a Sparatan-friendly aristocracy, the Athenians created institutional mechanisms that favoured diffuse direct participation in political affairs -such as political pay for jury work and attendance at the People's Assembly, as well as generalized use of choosing by lot to fill various public offices - and a matching ideology. To put it short, it's a book about the making of the epistemic (in the sense given by Foucault) of Athenian democracy.It's not about the class(slave-owning) foundations of Greek democracy, but how it was made to work by Athenian free citzens. A very speculative, immaginative analysis that ponders, above all, on the viability of a radical democracy. Highly recommended.

This little book tries to describe what an intelligent person would see and hear in ancient Athens, if by some legerdemain he were translated to the fourth century B.C. and conducted about the city under competent guidance. Rare happenings have been omitted and sometimes, to avoid long explanations, PROBABLE matters have been stated as if they were ascertained facts; but these instances are few. (1914)

Davis takes you on an interesting walking tour of old Athens. He begins by entering the town at sunrise, beginning the day at market where people are eager to hear or tell "some new thing" . He continues throughout the city, meeting with every aspect of Athenian life and culture.

This is very interesting reading, especially in conjunction with a study of Greek history or Homeric literature. It will give a broader understanding of the lifestyle and values of the Greeks.

It is obvious from even a cursory read of this book that Theodore Vrettos did an incredible amount of research. Fortunately for the reader, the story does not suffer from overindulgence in mere historical fact, as there are plenty of extremely personal anecdotes which keep the story moving at an even pace.

It is amazing that Elgin (barely) made it through this escapade alive, and more so that he didn't make a dime from "acquiring" antiquities from ancient cultures which, in his opinion, could neither appreciate nor adequately tend to these treasures. That the battle to possess the marbles continues to this day is testament to the passions of the people involved.

My one complaint with the book as a whole was the last chapter, entitled "The Trial." Don't let it fool you, Elgin wasn't brought to trial for theft, as he should have been. The trial in question is that of his wife's lover, on trial for adultery. I found the inclusion of this rather! lengthy chapter not pertinent to the story of the marbles; it would've ended the book just as well to merely point out the financial losses Elgin suffered without the detail of the trial. Otherwise, this is well written and an educational read.

This historically accurate book does not need any pondering of motives, but the facts themselves are so bizarre and amazing, you are free to draw your own conclusion. Imagine being a nemesis of Napolean Bonaparte. Even though the gods deigned to punish Elgin from day one, he was single-minded in his pursuit to obtain the equities he alone decided should be taken from their origins. Enjoy the ride of greed, lust and devine retribution. It's thought provoking and certainly envokes a passionate response.

While this book covers the usual subjects like geography, religion, social apects, the wars etc., it gives enough information on everything to be the one book on classical Athens that you should have as a reference guide to further study. I used this booking when studying 5th century Athens and found that other books added to the information I got from it, but did not equal or replace its content.

"The World of Athens" presents a history of Athens in a well organized format. Covers all aspects of Athenian history from geography to wars to politics. It is one of my most valued reference books.

This book has great information about attractions, with nice pictures and diagrams, as well as hours of operation and bus stop info. I really like it, but I also need another more comprehensive travel guide such as Rough Guide for detailed info on hotels and such.

I am seriously toying with the idea of taking a trip to Athens (so I can teach my on-line mythology course from the Acropolis) so I spent some time looking through various travel guides. When it comes to illustrations and graphics, none of the dozen I looked at can compete with this volume from DK Publishers. Of course, if you are familiar with any of the books from DK then you are already well aware that they have made their reputation providing visually stunning volumes. When I first flipped through this book I kept thinking it was a picture book and not a travel guide, and then I wondered why anybody would even need to go to Greece after looking at all of this.

The guide is divided into six sections: (1) Introducing Athens and Mainland Greece; (2) Ancient Greece, which includes historical, culture and mythological details; (3) Athens Area by Area; (4) Mainland Greece Area by Area; (5) Travelers' Needs, which covers where to stay and where to eat; and a (6) Survival Guide of practical and travel information, including a phrase book. You can go through the pages provided above to see exactly how things are laid out. Note: DK has a separate travel guide devoted to the Greek Islands.

I will not contend that this is the only travel guide you would need to plan your trip and/or go to Greece. There are several other travel guides that provide considerably more detail in terms of lodgings and restaurants. However, I would suggest that this is the travel guide you want to take with you while doing sightseeing; the other one can sit in your car, backpack, or whatever. For example, there is a diagram of a Byzantine church that provides more architectural detail than you would ever need to know. Other reviewers, who have actually used this book in Greece, have commented on how a lot of things are not marked in English, which made this volume particularly helpful. That is certainly good to know. However, at this point I am using it to figure out how to maximum the time I would spend there and where else to go besides Athens (obviously Delphi is the other must see place and then, probably, Mycenea).

My husband and I only visited the Athens portion of mainland Greece, but thoroughly enjoyed the information provided in this guide. We were able to make the most of our 2-day stay in Athens by self-guiding ourselves through the many historical and cultural monuments and museums in the city. The maps in this guide are very good.

I wonder if "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is Wild Bill's answer to "Romeo and Juliet" and works like it: instead of being passionate, life and death, as-important-as-the universe, here love and romance is light, frivolous, fickle and funny.

Love is in the air; love is everywhere. But at the middle of it all are two women with frustratingly similar names: Helena and Hermia. Hermia loves Lysander but is engaged (by a controlling father) to Demetrius. Helena loves Demetrius, who can think of no one but Hermia. Until a fairy god and an impish spirit step in and sprinkle some love-juice around: suddenly it's all a mess, everyone switches partners like at a square dance. But, naturally, it all works out in the end, and two pairs of lovers emerge to live happily ever after.

Two subplots add to the silliness of love: Titania, the fairy queen, under a spell sent by her husband, falls in love with a man with an donkey's head. (read: there is no objectivity in love, no "ideal lover".) Then, a bunch of fools perform a hilaroiusly awful play for the king, a play about tragically separated and suicidal lovers...something like Romeo and Juliet. (read: tragedy and love together are hilariously overdramatic.)

A enjoyable, funny, light, fairly fast play to read and perform. You gotta love Puck. The only real difficulty I had was keeping Helena and Hermia straight -- now, who loves who?

And really, in the end, it doesn't matter who loves who, just that all are loved.

Make sure you don't read one of those nasty prose or abridged versions here. Half the fun is the meter, and it's definitely short and sweet enough not to need abridgement.

a passage from the play:

PUCK: If we shadows have offended,

Think but this, (and all is mended)

That you have but slumbered here,

While these visions did appear.

And this weak and idle theme,

No more yielding but a dream,

Gentles, do not reprehend;

If you pardon, we will mend.

And, as I am an honest Puck,

If we have unearned luck,

Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,

We will make amends, ere long:

Else the Puck a liar call.

So, good night unto you all.

Give me your hands, if we be friends,

And Robin will restore amends."

Be warned, if you're looking for the original text of Shakespeare's play, this is not it - this is a retelling of the play by Bruce Coville in the attempt to introduce younger readers to the realm of Shakespeare.

In attempting that, he succeeds very well in bringing the text to a new format - all the components of the tale are here (though obviously abridged), and are clearly and smoothly told, keeping most of the spirit of the play, as well as the most important of quotes, for instance - "The course of true love never did run smooth," and "What fools these mortals be".

Three plot threads run throughout the story set in ancient Athens under the rule of the Duke Theseus about to be wed to his own Amazon-bride. Foremost is the love-tangle between the virtually indistinguishable Helena, Lysander, Hermia and Demetrius. When Hermia and Demetrius decide to elope, racing away into the woods, Lynsander follows (who has been promised Hermia by her father), and chasing after him is the spurned Helena, desparately (and pathetically) in love with him.
Meanwhile, the King and Queen of Fairies, Oberon and Titania are having what can only be called a domestic over a young changeling boy that Oberon wants to join his service, but who Titania is determined to keep in remembrance of his mother, her devoted friend. To punish his Queen, Oberon sends his servent, the hobgoblin Puck, to fetch a flower capable of making anyone under its spell fall in love with whatever creature they behold.
Finally, the group of players led by Peter Quince and joined by Francis Flute and the famous Nick Bottom journey into the forest to practice their play to perform on the Duke's wedding day, and fall the victims of Puck's prankish nature, when he transforms the head of Bottom into that of an ass. Of course, it is he that Titania first spies when she awakens from her slumber...

It is a complicated and intricate play, full of mayhem and havoc in which everybody falls in love with everybody else, but Coville handles it well and keeps it simple to the point of abridging much of the final act in which Bottom and the players finally get to perform. However, such a scene is somewhat un-neccessary in the "storybook" context of this retelling, and its removal was probably a good idea. The themes of wayward love and its fickleness is still in place, whether it be the mis-matching of the young lovers, the quarrels between husband and wife, or the ridiculousness of the romantic, suicidal couple that the actors play "Pyramus and Thisby" (on which Shakespeare based "Romeo and Juliet").

The illustrations fit the story well. Though some might hope for intricate, highly detailed work that we usually see in fairy-books these days (such as the work of Brian Froud or K. Y. Craft), here the watercolours are in soft pastels, very clearly and simply planned and rendered. To help the reader along, there is an introductory page of the main character's busts, and the four lovers can be easily identified by their colour-coding (just remember - the blonde girl goes with the blonde boy and the dark-haired girl goes with the dark-haired boy). Bottom is hilarious with or without his ass-head, and you can tell just from his expression that he's a complete buffon.

Most of the fairies are as they are usually portrayed - small, winged, barefooted and delicate, but their impish faces and spindly bodies save them from appearing as those silly, cute, adorable little fairies that you might expect in Enid Blyton. To my mind, fairies must have a little of the mysterious and potential for malevolence about them. The potrayal of Oberon and Titania is somewhat odd - Titania appears as a full grown woman (though in a couple of pictures horribly stick-like, almost anorexic) but Oberon seems almost child-like, as if he's a boy in an over-sized sheet. Like the four lovers, many of the characters are portrayed as incredibly young, a theme that runs through into Puck.

It is Puck who is the centrepiece of this retelling, both in the narrative and in the pictures. With tangled hair and a fuzzy loincloth, the cheeky toddler whizzes about the air, sometimes the very picture of innocence, other times with a devilish grin. He can't help but make you smile when you see him.

Altogether, a good start to introduce young readers to the play, with nice clear pictures just this side of an art and/or fairy-lovers collection.

I'm surprised that none of the reviews I've read (I didn't read them all, but about 25) even mention the pictures in this wonderful edition by Bruce Coville. I've read the play and adore it, seen it several times, etc. But the reason one would buy this book rather than Shakespeare's words is for the clear, modern English storytelling and the gorgeous images. This is a wonderful book to introduce Shakespeare to anyone. I personally love the poetry of Shakespeare's lines but know that they are difficult for children and Shakspeare newbies. This book tells the story in clear words and great pictures, full of classical fairies and beautiful maidens and valorous youths (plus some great facial expressions on Bottom). Worth every penny.

"Last of the Amazons" while better than the prior Pressfield novel, "Tides of War", still falls short of "Gates of Fire". The biggest problem, in my opinion is that "Last of the Amazons" fails to truly capture the spirit of a great story taken from Greek mythology.

The story is that the Greek king Theseus travels east to around the Black Sea where he encounters the Amazon, a society of warrior women. The queen of the Amazons Antiope (or Hippolyta) and Theseus fall in love and she accompanies him back to Athens. The Amazons then march west and declare war on Athens, forcing the Greek defenders to take cover in the Rock, an old stronghold in the city. During the battle, Antiope sacrifices her own life to save Theseus and Athens. The Amazons are driven off, but the loss of the love of his life destroys Theseus from within over the next couple decades.

Now that's a rough summation of the legend, and more or less Pressfield sticks to it. The problem is that his telling of the story is from such indirect points of view that he never gets to the heart of the story: the affair between Theseus and Antiope. Instead, Pressfield's 2nd and 3rd hand narrations focus on the crumbling state of Amazonian society. And much of it deals twenty years later with Athenians chasing after an Amazon warrior who murdered three Greeks. I never really bought into that story, perhaps in part because so little is known of the Amazons. It's hard for me to care about the fall of a society that may not have existed, but a good love story is universal.

Having read Pressfield's three books dealing with the Greeks, "Gates of Fire" stands out as the best to me, because Pressfield does what he does best. That is, to detail the struggles of ancient combat from the "everyman" point of view, soldiers who are not heroes, but common infantrymen. There are flashes of that in "Last of the Amazons" during the siege of Athens, where Pressfield talks about the rigors of ancient infantry combat.

However, the problem I had with the siege of Athens in the book is that the Greeks were such incompetents at fighting it seemed implausible that they managed to win. In fact, it was only through the heroics of Antiope and betrayal by allies of the Amazons that Athens won. I already knew who was going to win, but during the battle I kept wondering, "how are these clowns going to get it together enough to win?" Don't get me wrong, it's not like I wanted overblown heroics with each Greek killing a hundred of the enemy, but it would have been nice if they at some point didn't seem like a bunch of bozos.

At any rate, I think a lot of people like this book because they haven't been spoiled by "The Bull From the Sea" by Mary Renault. I read that book in high school and I think it does a much better job of focusing on the story of Theseus and Antiope. I think after reading and enjoying that book, Pressfield's effort failed to make as much of an impression on me. "Last of the Amazons" is worth reading just for the great battles, but I'd also recommend checking out Renault's "The King Must Die" and "Bull From the Sea". Even though they are rather old, I think they still hold up.

I'll admit - I was caught up in it and was impressed. Years ago I had read Kleinbaum's THE WAR AGAINST THE AMAZONS, which covered the various depictions of Amazons in the arts: literature and film particularly. In that book she listed all the novels that had been written up to that time and synopsized them. None of them sounded interesting to me because they didn't seem to have come close to even the original myths. This novel though is different. Pressfield did his research and in some ways his depiction of the Amazons is more humane, more centered, and less didactic than previous authors' depictions have been. He is telling an epic story based on classical legends and apparently also on recent archaeological evidence and not forwarding some agenda - women better than men, men better than women, the whole Amazon equals Lesbian blur. I appreciated that aspect of this novel. Pressfield really made an effort to imagine what the 'Amazonian' tribes might have been like.

With this novel Pressfield creates a convincing world of the mythological Amazons as semi-nomadic horse warriors of the southern Steppes of Russia. They are presented as a people in touch with nature, who live for honour and battle. A world where strength rules all.

This book brings to life the story of the 'rape' of the Amazon (or Tal Kyrte, "the free people" as they call themselves) Queen Antiope and her "abduction" to Athens by Theseus. What follows is a monumental war that will change both the world of Athens and the Amazons. It signals the end of the way of life and not the glory and victory foretold at the start.

This book is well written, based on both ancient myths and modern Archaeology. How accurate it actually is we'll probably never know. While well written this book should only read if you have a high tolerance for battle scenes. For me, these were the only sections which somewhat dragged. They were well described and pivitoal to the story but the blood and gore does get to you after a while.

In short, a well crafted, but bloody novel.