Sailing the Wine Dark Sea

Ursus Maximus writes "'Sailing' is a gentle and easily readable re-introduction to Greek civilization and culture, with numerous parallels and lessons drawn to our own times by the astute author. Cahill has a real knack for this sort of thing, as he has amply demonstrated in three previous volumes in his "Hinges of History" series. I was introduced to his work in his first volume in the series, 'How the Irish Saved Civilization,' and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Cahill aims to give us a well rounded glimpse into the way the ancient Greeks lived, saw the world, and in fact into the whole of Greek experience. He does this in an idiosyncratic way that will please neither academics nor purists, but which does allow one to taste and smell the Greeks' cultural milieu, and not just to cogitate about it. But cogitate you will, as Cahill gives enough food for thought as post modern man is likely to be able to bear." Read on for the rest of Ursus Maximus' review. Sailing the Wine Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Mattered author Thomas Cahill pages 304 publisher Doubleday rating Excellent, 5 stars reviewer Ursus Maximus ISBN 0385495536 summary This book explores the Greek contribution to Western Civilization

According to Cahill, the Greeks' invention of the alphabet (or refinement of the Phoenician alphabet) into a potent intellectual tool was the beginning and the heart of their cultural expansion. Perhaps, in our own time, the arrival of computer technology and the web carries a similar promise, if only we can tease as much innovation from the web as the Greeks did from the alphabet.

But it is hard to consign the Greeks' invention of democracy (a Greek word meaning "rule of the people") to second place, even to so fine a contender as the alphabet itself. For the Greek city-state of Athens truly did refine direct democracy and their achievement can be seen as the bedrock and foundation of Western Europe's later development of democracy, and especially of the American experiment in indirect and representational democracy.

Yet of equally revolutionary significance is the Greek invention of total warfare, with highly organized militaries made up of hoplite soldiers and shrewd, calculating generals. This Greek way of warfare has been the foundation of the Western way of war ever since, right down to and including our current American military dominance of the planet. Cahill cites extensively from the brilliant and influential military historian Victor Davis Hanson and his book "The Autumn of War" to the effect that the western way of total warfare has dominated the planet ever since; and it appears that Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Chaney are well versed in Mr. Hanson's theories, not to mention Greek hubris.

The lessons for the USA in its war on terrorism alone are compelling, if not down right chilling. Central to the cultural echoes provided is a speech from Pericles, ruler of Athens at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War, a mighty struggle that lasted for 30 years, beginning with Athens at the height of its imperial, cultural and financial powers, and ending with Athens defeated and subjected to domination by Sparta and her allies, never again to regain the zenith of her glory and might.

At an annual ceremony honoring and burying the bones of her young war dead after the first year of the 30 years war, Pericles orated about the Greek forefathers, and he sounds a lot like a contemporary American politician:

"...generation after generation in unchanging and unbroken succession, they have, by their hard work and courage, handed down to us a free country... "

This comes from what is by far the longest of the many quotes Cahill intersperses in his book, and it sounds ever so much like George W. Bush. I admire the way the author intersperses these quotes without ever boring the reader. The quotes from such luminaries as Homer, Socrates, Plato and others are absolutely integral to the book and greatly enhance its character. If Pericles' speech above reminds us of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, so it must also remind us somewhat of our current President's oratory about the War on Terror.

The book is organized around chapters that bring together material in an organic way, not an academic way; with titles like: "The Warrior: How to Fight", "The Wanderer: How to Feel", "The Poet: How to Party", "The Politician and the Playwright: How to Rule", "The Philosopher: How to Think", "The Artist: How to See", and "The Way They Went: Greco-Roman World meets Judeo-Christian".

All in all, this is a quick read, a delightful and thought provoking exercise, and a worthwhile adventure. I highly recommend it. Be forewarned though, you may find yourself wanting to go on and read the other volumes in the series, including "How the Irish Saved Civilization", "The Gifts of the Jews", "The Desire of the Everlasting Hills" (about early Christianity), and the three forthcoming volumes, the next of which is promised to be about how the Romans became Italians. By the time all three future volumes are published, this promises to be a very accessible investigation into the making of the modern world and the impact of its cultural innovations on the sensibilities of the West.

I suspect that Slashdotters of all persuasions will enjoy reading this book; you can read more on related topics on my weblog and web site at http://www.awaretek.com/weblog/

You can purchase Sailing the Wine Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Mattered from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, carefully read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.

Comments

Cheaper on Amazon

[Anonymous Coward]

link

"Refining" democracy

[InternationalCow]

Yeah, right. It may be worth mentioning that the Greek version of democracy differs somewhat from ours. In Athens, only free men were allowed to vote. Women and slaves were not. Hence, democracy in the Greek sense is more of an oligocracy. However, their system of adult full citizens voting on decisions did pave the way for the Western type of democracy that came out of the French revolution. One may wonder to what extent our modern democracies really are democracies. Oh, and part of the homosexual thing was due to the fact that most women (except for prostitutes, or haetares as they were known) were not considered fit and proper intellectual partners for a nice night out for a man. I'm not sure where the other part came from but it was first and foremost an "intellectual" thing.

Re:"Refining" democracy

[praksys]

Hence, democracy in the Greek sense is more of an oligocracy.

Not even close. An oligarchy is a system of government where only a few rule. Athenian democracy involved rule by many , by a large slice of the population (perhaps as many as 40 thousand full citizens had the right to vote), and by both the rich and the poor. It was limited sufferage, but it was far closer in both spirit and practice to modern universal sufferage than it was to oligarchy.

However, their system of adult full citizens voting on decisions did pave the way for the Western type of democracy that came out of the French revolution.

The French revolution did not result in any sort of democratic government. It was a republic for a while, before the Monarchy was restored. The closest that they came to democracy was a brief period of mob rule.

The American revolution preceded the French revolution, and the US was the first modern democracy.

Re:"Refining" democracy

[praksys]

In the period you are talking about Iceland didn't exactly have a government. It did have laws, and there were democratic elements to the way things worked, but because there was no government it is usually called an anarchy. Anyway, it was not a modern democracy. They did not have universal sufferage or representative government, or any of the other features of modern democracy.

There were other democracies around before the US, and after the classical period though. Switzerland, and Republican Venice for example. But neither were modern democracies.

Speaking as someone with a classics degree

[Anonymous Coward]

Cahill's books are basically like the really bad "For Dummies" books - full of inaccuracies, oversimplifications, and downright stupidities. If you want a valuable book on this subject, I'd suggest Oliver Taplin's *Greek Fire*.

Plutach, Herodotus, Renault

[handy_vandal]

a well rounded glimpse into the way the ancient Greeks lived, saw the world, and in fact into the whole of Greek experience.

If you, like me, enjoy this kind of thing, see also ...

Plutarch: biographies of Theseus, Pericles, Alexander, etc. Very warm, personable studies.

Herodotus: "Inquiries". (Usually titled, incorrectly, "The Persian War".) Great fun to read -- lots of cool stories mixed with tall tales.

Mary Renault: "The Mask of Apollo" and other novels. Renault is one of the best historical novelists ever. Both entertaining and informative.

-kgj

Re:according to Hollywood

[Anonymous Coward]

Hmmm... yes Patroclus could be described as Achilles lover but not in a homosexual way. Perhaps it would be better to describe Patroclus as Achilles' close friend. In the original text of Iliad, Achilles had Vryssies as concubine for his ...needs. And for those of you that don't speak Greek, Vryssies was a "she". A hottie ;-)

Re:Greek life and todays society

[abigor]

Yes, and our cinematic treatment of them often glosses this over in a big way. Witness the new movie "Troy", which totally fails to mention the love affair of Achilles and Patroclus. Instead, Achilles is a totally straight sex god, which is pretty funny.

Fighting, philosophy lite, a troubled personality, and tons of sex with hot chicks - your standard Hollywood hero, according to "Troy".

I started it - it was terrible

[Xoro]

Heavy handed, poorly argued, ill-informed, amateur. It was the cheap authority of cocktail party talk run amok.

I've forgotten much, but one thing that stuck out in my head was his argument against the notion that Homer wrote down an oral poem rather than penning the epics himself. Cahill basically quotes segments of the poem, declares them too complex for mere oral traditions, and says anyone who doesn't agree with him has "a tin ear".

His other arguments followed the same general line:

1. Form hypothesis
2. Defend it with: "It just had to be that way"
3. Insult skeptics
4. Profit

I wanted to like the book when I picked it up, but quickly formed the impression that Cahill is a boorish simpleton, straining himself in self-congratulation for his dubious insights. I won't be reading his other works.

Re:Comparison not valid

[costas]

I agree with that, but your list is actually a bit off: biology and chemistry (really, physics before any specialization) was within the knowledge-universe of Classic-age Greeks. I don't believe that framing the differences in terms of technology does that era any justice: technology progresses, slowly or quickly regardless of era.

What you are missing from your list is that the Classical Greeks really did not have a pre-defined set of morals, i.e. a religion in the modern Western sense (no, the Pantheon doesn't count, the Olympic Gods were more of a soap opera and a ritual to be observed than enforcers of accepted morality). Socrates or Plato do not speak of capital-G God, they speak of capital-M Man (albeit in a veiled way to not offend their contemporaries) and what Man's duties and responsibilities are. That alone is a huge leap forward from where other cultures where at the time, and is truly IMNSHO the foundation of the Western way of thinking. The expansion of Western territory and technological know how in later centuries was but a by-product of the humanistic approach of the Greeks.

(Yes, I am Greek, so I am biased :-)

Re:..smell the Greeks' cultural milieu..

[ozbird]

Real Feta cheese is _only_ made from goat's milk; indeed, the Greeks are so pissed off by the feta-style cow's milk cheeses that they are pushing for appellation of origin controls to protect the term "Feta".

I'm particularly fond of soft (unaged) Chèvre goat's cheese; it had a delicious tang that cow's milk cream cheeses lack.