11 thinkers, books, and ideas connected to this field.
The surviving fragments of Heraclitus's philosophical writing — preserved in quotations by later writers — containing his doctrine of universal flux, the unity of opposites, and the Logos — the most philosophically dense collection of pre-Socratic philosophy.
Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher — known as 'the Obscure' — author of the fragments containing his doctrine of universal flux, the unity of opposites, and the Logos — whose ideas influenced Stoicism and (through John's Gospel) Christianity.
Greek historian from Halicarnassus known as the Father of History — who wrote the Histories, tracing the origins of the Persian Wars from the conflict between East and West through the battles of Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis, and Plataea — combining the first systematic historical inquiry with ethnographic curiosity about foreign peoples.
Semi-legendary Greek poet credited with composing the Iliad and the Odyssey — the foundational texts of Western literature — whose epics about the Trojan War and its aftermath established the heroic code, the interplay of divine and human agency, and the narrative conventions that all subsequent Western epic has drawn on.
King of Macedon — who transformed Macedon from a peripheral semi-barbaric kingdom into the dominant power in Greece — inventor of the Macedonian phalanx (sarissa pike formation), the combined arms system — and father of Alexander the Great, who inherited his military machine.
Plutarch's parallel biographies of paired Greek and Roman statesmen and soldiers — written 100 CE — the primary source for ancient Greek and Roman biography and the most influential collection of biographical writing in Western history.
British ancient historian at Oxford who wrote Alexander the Great, Pagans and Christians, The Classical World, and The Unauthorized Version — known for biography, religious history, and classical survey — who also served as an historical consultant on Oliver Stone's Alexander film.
Thomas Cahill's 2003 study of ancient Greek civilization — part of his Hinges of History series — examining the Greek contribution to Western civilization through art, poetry, drama, philosophy, and warfare.
Robin Lane Fox's 2005 survey of Greek and Roman civilization from Homer to Hadrian — providing an accessible and scholarly account of classical antiquity's development.
Homer's epic poem about the Trojan War — specifically the wrath of Achilles and its consequences — depicting the siege of Troy through the lens of divine politics, individual heroism, and the pathos of mortality — the foundational text of Western literature.
Volume II of Will and Ariel Durant's The Story of Civilization — covering ancient Greek history from the Minoans through the Hellenistic age — one of the most accessible and comprehensive popular accounts of ancient Greece.