"From the Battle of Marathon to the Minotaur, from the Acropolis to Aristotle, from Theseus to the Theban hegemony, from slavery to Sparta, The Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece is a fascinating fully illustrated reference work, spanning both political history, society, wars, art, architecture, culture, philosophy and mythology. Covering the founding of the Minoan civilization on Crete in the 3rd millennium BCE, Mycenaean Greece in the 2nd millennium, the Greek Dark Ages and the heights of Athenian civilization in the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, the book expertly examines a wide range of aspects of the civilization that is considered to be the foundation of Western culture. Thousands of years later we can easily identify the influences of ancient Greece in modern politics, society and architecture, its mythical tales are still recounted and their patterns can be spotted throughout modern literature, television and film."--