Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter (Hinges of History)

Editorial Review:

In Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea, his fourth volume to explore "the hinges of history," Thomas Cahill escorts the reader on another entertaining--and historically unassailable--journey through the landmarks of art and bloodshed that defined Greek culture nearly three millennia ago.
In the city-states of Athens and Sparta and throughout the Greek islands, honors could be won in making love and war, and lives were rife with contradictions. By developing the alphabet, the Greeks empowered the reader, demystified experience, and opened the way for civil discussion and experimentation--yet they kept slaves. The glorious verses of the Iliad recount a conflict in which rage and outrage spur men to action and suggest that their "bellicose society of gleaming metals and rattling weapons" is not so very distant from more recent campaigns of "shock and awe." And, centuries before Zorba, Greece was a land where music, dance, and freely flowing wine were essential to the high life. Granting equal time to the sacred and the profane, Cahill rivets our attention to the legacies of an ancient and enduring worldview.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0

Cahill's Hinges of History:

This is another of Thomas Cahill's wonderful series he calls the Hinges of Hisory. It is informative and entertainingly written, providing the link between the ancient Greeks and our own art, attitudes and institutions of government, religion and personal values.

A history of us:

Fourth in the Hinges of History series, following up on
the Jews (The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels (Hinges of History))
the Irish (How the Irish Saved Civilization (Hinges of History))
and Jesus (Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The World Before and After Jesus (Hinges of History))
Cahill wraps up his typically short but powerful summary and popularization (in the best sense of the word) by showing how these disparate... more info

Brilliant!:

Thomas Cahill's fourth book, Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea, is part of his ongoing seven book history of western civilization entitled The Hinges of History. The book is a spectacular, wild ride through Grecian philosophy, art, politics and culture from its infancy through to its demise. Cahill writes so fluidly and descriptively one would think of him as an accomplished novelist first, historian second. This is not the case however as Cahill exhibits historical brilliance throughout the entire text.more info

Accessible, insightful intellectual history of the Greeks:

Thomas Cahill's "Hinges of History" series has emerged as one of the most popular series of intellectual histories ever written, and also the most important. Intellectual history is often written by historians for historians, and you need at least a Master's degree to get past Chapter One. Cahill is among the most accessible intellectual historians writing today, but he cannot be accused of dumbing things down for his audience.
Cahill's take on the Greeks is that they have laid the foundation for... more info

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