Authors of Greece

The author's central argument is bracing: Greek literature, far from being a dusty relic of antiquity, speaks with alarming directness to the modern moment. Writing in the early 20th century, T.W. Lumb contends that ancient Athens was a society recognizably like our own, democratic in form but plagued by factionalism, grappling with the same tensions between militarism and internationalism, between nationalism and collective solidarity. The Greeks knew socialism, communism, and the noisier varieties of demagoguery. They built a maritime empire and watched it collapse. Lumb makes the case that anyone claiming to understand European literature while ignoring these foundations is simply ridiculous. The book then turns to close readings of the major Greek authors - Homer, Aeschylus, and others - examining how their works illuminate the human condition. Lumb writes for readers who suspect that the progress of civilization is largely an illusion, that human nature has not fundamentally changed in two millennia, and that the ancients might have something to teach us about our own crises. This is polemical literary criticism, passionate and unapologetic - and the arguments have not gotten weaker with time.