The word 'athletics' is derived from the Greek verb 'to struggle for a prize'. After reading this book, no one will see the Olympics as a graceful display of Greek beauty again, but as war by other means. Nigel Spivey paints a portrait of the Greek Olympics as they really were - fierce contests between bitter rivals, in which victors won kudos and rewards, and losers faced scorn and even assault. Victory was almost worth dying for, and a number of athletes did just that. Many more resorted...

Once the pride of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Sarpedon krater is a wine-mixing bowl crafted by two Athenians, Euxitheos (who shaped it) and Euphronios (who decorated it), in the late 6thc BC. The moving image Euphronios created for the krater, depicting the stricken Trojan hero Sarpedon being lifted from the battlefield by 'Sleep' and 'Death', was to have an influence that endured well beyond Antiquity.Nigel Spivey not only explores the particular culture that produc...

A concise and accessible study of the foundations, development and enduring legacy of the cultures of Greece and Rome, centred on ten locations of seminal importance in the development of Classical civilisation.Starting with Troy, where history, myth and cosmology fuse to form the origins of Classical civilisation, Nigel Spivey explores the contrasting politics of Athens and Sparta, the diffusion of classical ideals across the Mediterranean world, Classical science and philosophy, ...

Ancient Greek sculpture seems to have a timeless quality – provoking reactions that may range from awe to alienation. Yet it was a particular product of its age: and to know how and why it was once created is to embark upon an understanding of its 'Classic' status. In this richly illustrated and carefully written survey, encompassing works from c.700 BC to the end of antiquity, Nigel Spivey expounds not only the social function of Greek sculpture but also its aesthetic and technical achiev...

Songs on Bronze is the first major retelling of Greek mythology in half a century; a set of lively, racy, dramatic versions of the great myths which, in a multicultural society, are recognized more than ever as stories without equal.Modern translations of the Greek myths have often sought to instruct, to edify, or to impart a personal philosophy. Songs on Bronze is different. Nigel Spivey gives us the Greek myths as the spellbinding stories they are. In bold, sens...

What happened to the characters of DECLINE AND FALL and VILE BODIES when the war broke out? PUT OUT MORE FLAGS shows them adjusting to the changing social pattern of the times. Some of them play a valorous part; others, like the scapegrace Basil Sea, disclose their incorrigible habit of self-preservation in all circumstances. Basil's contribution to the war effort involves the use of his peculiar talents in such spheres of opportunity as the Ministry of Information and an obscure section o...