The Life of Greece

The Story of Civilization, Volume 2

By: Will Durant

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

The second volume of Will Durant's Pulitzer Prize - winning series The Story of Civilization. Volume 2 chronicles the history of ancient Greek civilization. Here Durant tells the whole story of Greece from the days of Crete's vast Aegean empire to the final extirpation of the last remnants of Greek liberty, crushed under the heel of an implacably forward-marching Rome. The dry minutiae of battles and sieges, of tortuous statecraft of tyrant and king, get minor emphasis in what is preeminently a vivid recreation of Greek culture, brought to the listener through the medium of supple, vigorous prose.

In this masterful work, listeners will learn about:

• The siege of Troy
• The great city-states of Athens and Sparta
• The heroes of Homer's epics
• The gods and lesser deities of Mount Olympus
• The teachings of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle
• The empire of Alexander the Great

©1966 Will Durant (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

masterpiece!

a must read, Will Durant's labor of love educated and moved me. the detail is stunning, the perspective is enlightening, the epilogue is made of the kind of stuff for which I read.

"A big book, is a big evil" - Callimachus.

This one, however, is worth the effort. Will Durant is a scholar of the first order, who clearly loves history.

Approachable and Enjoyable

The content is fantastic and the narration is fine. Enjoy this audiobook and the others in the series!

details

it did not adequately credit Eastern civilizations contribution to Greek civilization. specifically that off Babylonian Persian and Indian.

Glad I got through it

I knew a fair amount of these stories but what I did learn was well worth it. Some of the lengthy descriptions of statues and art was frankly agonizing. I was also surprised at how little was spent on Alexander. However, overall I left with a much better understanding of how the foundations of western culture evolved as well as why the mediterranean looks like it does today. I'm looking forward to book three.

Excellent Overview of Ancient Greece

This is an excellent, thorough overview of the history of ancient Greece. I highly recommend it.

Most of us know bits and pieces, picked up in childhood, about things like Greek myth (we all know who Zeus, Poseidon, and Athena are), the high points of Greek history (Marathon, Themopylae, Salamis), Greek culture and philosophy. The influence of ancient Greece on English-speaking culture is so pervasive as to be inescapable. But we rarely get a comprehensive overview.

This book delivers that overview, from the origins of Greece to the Roman conquest. We truly get a vivid picture of the life of ancient Greece.

The most interesting part for me was the thorough tour of not just Greece, but the ancient Greek colonies. We tend to think of ancient Greece in terms of the lands that are part of the modern country, but the ancient Greeks lived in a world of far-flung colonies, from Spain to the Black Sea, that were integral parts of the Greek community. It was one continuous cultural world, spanning all of the Meditterrainian Sea. You can't understand ancient Greek culture without understanding the connection of colony and mainland. This book brings that to life.

Overall, highly recommended. Perhaps my favorite entry in The Story of Civilization series.

Ancient Greece: Learn it all

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is a comprehensive look at the interesting roots of western civilization.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Although the history was interesting, I was taken by the section on the Greek God's.

Thank you everyone who contributed.

Stefan Rudnicki whos the perfect voice for a perfect book . Thenk you! Silviu .

An ever lasting Master piece ...!!!

A great book that makes one wonders at the great effort Mr. Durant must have put to write it ...!!!
A wonderful narrator ...!!!

Wonderful!

Absolutely loved it, although I would have preferred a reader with a British accent. Bravo Durants!