A Minimalist History of Ancient Greece for Teenagers
by Yu Yinghai
About This Novel
Wilde once said: "Everything in our modern life is indebted to the Greeks." It is unimaginable that that barren island surrounded by Egyptian civilization and Near Eastern civilization could actually give birth to what can be said to be the greatest culture in the world. The ancient Greek peninsula is like a beacon in the dark night, illuminating the ignorant childhood of mankind. There is the sacred Mount Olympus, with Zeus overlooking the entire world from the top of the mountain; there are lush green olive trees, and Homer sits under the tree and plays the harp, telling the joys and sorrows of heroes and beauties in troubled times. There are magnificent temples where people revel and drink in order to worship the gods; there are spacious amphitheaters where audiences can purify their souls or relax their emotions in the stands. There are the ruins of Marathon, where the Greeks used wisdom and courage to defeat the aggressive Persian Empire; there is the dangerous Thermopylae, where the Spartan warriors looked at death as if they were home until the last man fell on the battlefield... There were so many commendable achievements and so many evocative past events. It was an era of comprehensive glory in literature and philosophy, sculpture and architecture, technology and politics. It was also an era of portraying heroes, expressing personality, and singing about freedom. People remember Greece because of the gods who pursued love and beauty and the heroes who were limited by fate, because of the temperament of Athens and the power of Sparta. Without the Greek victory over Persia, Europe would not be what it is today. From hegemony to melee, from Alexander to the Roman Empire, the shape of ancient Greece has turned into the dust of history and dissipated, but the legacy it left to mankind is inexhaustible.
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