This historical survey covers the period from 700 BC to AD 550, tracing the development of Greek literature by concentrating on the works of the principal authors of each period--including Homer, Plato, Aristophanes, and Euripides--and illustrating general points with passages from their work in translation. It pays attention to unfamiliar components of Greek life and literature and also considers those elements that have appealed most powerfully to succeeding generations. Although it recognizes that this appeal lies above all in the most creative and inventive period (700-300 BC), the book...