Introduction 1

Part I: Travelling Back in Time 7

Chapter 1: When, Where, What, Who? Meeting the Ancient Greeks 9

Chapter 2: Encountering Prehistoric Civilisations: The Minoans and Mycenaeans 21

Chapter 3: Shedding Light on Ancient Greece's Dark Ages 33

Chapter 4: Governing by Kings, Tyrants, and (Eventually) Democrats 41

Chapter 5: Fighting and Warring: Greece Gets Heavy 55

Chapter 6: East versus West: The Persian Wars 67

Part II: Athens to Alexander: The Rise and Fall of Empires 81

Chapter 7: Athens and Empire Building 83

Chapter 8: Dealing with the Neighbours from Hell: The Peloponnesian War 97

Chapter 9: Losing Their Way: The End of Classical Greece 113

Chapter 10: Rising Quickly to the Top: Macedonia 127

Chapter 11: Crowning the Undefeated Champion of the World: Alexander the Great 139

Chapter 12: What Happened Next? 153

Part III: Living a Greek Life 163

Chapter 13: Out in the Fields: Farming, Herding, and Travelling 165

Chapter 14: Home and Family 177

Chapter 15: Going About Daily Life in Ancient Greece 191

Chapter 16: Plays and Pugilism: Enjoying Ancient Greek Entertainment 205

Chapter 17: Depicting Men, Women, and Gods in Art 221

Chapter 18: Building Beautiful Greek Architecture 237

Part IV: Mythology, Religion, and Belief 247

Chapter 19: Going Back to the Beginning: Myths and Gods 249

Chapter 20: Blending Myth and History: Troy, Homer, and Heroes 267

Chapter 21: Practising Everyday Religion: 'A God Put It in My Heart to Say' 281

Chapter 22: Trying to Figure Everything Out: Greek Philosophy 293

Part V: The Part of Tens 307

Chapter 23: Ten Great Greek Inventions 309

Chapter 24: Ten Things to Read Next 315

Chapter 25: Ten Dodgy Ancient Greek Characters 321

Chapter 26: Ten Great Places to Visit 327

Index 333