The Landmark editions of Thucydides and Herodotus have become the new standard for elegant and accessible editions of classical works. To this monumental work, editor Robert B. Strassler now adds Xenophon's Hellenika, the major primary source for the events of the final seven years and aftermath of the Peloponnesian War, completing an ancient narrative of the military and political history of classical Greece.In this event, Mr. Strassler will introduce both Herodotus and Xenophon and show their pleasure for the reader, as well as their importance to the study of the ancient world.
Cicero called Herodotus "the father of history," and his only work, The Histories, is considered the first true piece of historical writing in Western literature. With lucid prose, Herodotus's account of the rise of the Persian Empire and its dramatic war with the Greek city sates set a standard for narrative nonfiction that continues to this day.
Hellenika covers the years between 411 and 362 B.C.E., a particularly dramatic period during which the alliances among Athens, Sparta, Thebes, and Persia were in constant flux.
Robert B. Strassler is an unaffiliated scholar who holds an honorary Doctorate of Humanities and Letters from Bard College and is chairman of the Aston Magna Foundation for Music and the Humanities..
