63. It's All Greek to Me : From Homer to the Hippocratic Oath, How Ancient Greece Has Shaped Our World by Charlotte Higgins
published: 2008
format: 220 page hardcover
acquired: library
read: Oct 1, 13-16
rating: 3½

After a nice introduction, I found I didn't like it, and then I did, and then I finished and now I've kind of lost whatever affect it had, and that about sums it up.

Higgins tries to give a brief tour through Ancient Greek literature from Homer to Aristotle. It's fast paced with snarky humor and she provides some nice summaries. I particularly valued her take on Plato and Aristotle since I haven't and don't plan to read either. She also had a nice take on Sappho. And she had me wanting to read both Herodotus and Thucydides. She almost lost me early as her opening chapter on Homer (who she goes back to several times) dissolved into something like cliff notes, including (bad) chapter-by-chapter brief summaries. But she didn't do anything like that again and I was happy to read through the rest of it.

2016
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