The Greek Way of Life: From Conception to Old Age - Softcover

Robert Garland is Professor of Classics at Colgate University, New York, USA.

Garland's (classics, Colgate) book is a survey of the major life experiences which constituted the social reality of classical Greece. The method of analysis is dense description assembled mostly from classical literary and philosophic sources and broken down into the general topics of conception and pregnancy, birth, childhood, coming of age, early adulthood, and elders and the elderly. What emerges is a conception of the human being as a social animal par excellence whose nature was largely realized in the attainment of paradigmatic social roles: military service for men and childbearing for women. Among the subtopics are Greek medical ideas, the roles of women and children, marriage, care of the elderly, and the role of religious ideas. An engaging narrative and a useful sourcebook, this will appeal to both general readers and scholars.
- V. Bradley Lewis, Univ. of Notre Dame, Ind.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.