Persians & Greeks
The
10 Thousand
Novel
By Michael Curtis Ford
The ill-fated campaign of Xenophon's army in the political chaos following the Peloponnesian
War is the subject of Ford's debut, a long and labyrinthine affair that begins with
the army's successful journey to Babylon and an initial battle in which the Persian
forces are routed. But the tide quickly turns when the Persians sneak behind enemy
lines and pillage the Greek camp. |
Creation
Novel set in ancient Persia & Greece
By Gore Vidal
In 445 B.C., Cyrus Spitama, the grandson of the prophet Zoroaster, is the Persian
ambassador to the city of Athens. He dictates his life story to his nephew, Democritus,
with similar disdain for the Greeks--whom we in the modern world have come to view
as the progenitors of civilization, but whom Cyrus considers to be bad-smelling rabble. |
History
of the Persian Empire
By A.T. Olmstead
Out of a lifetime of study of the ancient Near East, Professor Olmstead has gathered
previously unknown material into the story of the life, times, and thought of the
Persians, told for the first time from the Persian rather than the traditional Greek
point of view. |
The Persian
Empire
World History
By Don Nardo; Library Binding
Full of black-and-white maps, pictures, and intriguing boxed quotes from original
sources and academic works, this clear, lively, easy-to-read history breathes life
into its subject. Starting with a time line and an introduction explaining how Persia
came to be portrayed, historically, as a villain because of its wars with the Greeks,
Nardo traces the Persian empire from the Iranian migration (circa 1200-900 B.C.)
to modern times (a very brief half page with just a mention of the Shah and Ayatollah
Khomeini). |
The
Education of Cyrus
By Xenophon,
Wayne Ambler (Translator)
The Education of Cyrus is a political and philosophical romance describing
the boyhood and training of Cyrus, the founder of the Persian Empire. An influential
work, it later became a model for Greek romances. Greek and Roman Classics; History |
The Golden
Age of Persia
History
By Richard Nelson Frye
The definitive history of the birth and development of the great age of Iranian
civilization by the world authority on ancient Persian culture. "This book is
excellently written and well-organized to present a sound but reflectively new study
of Islam's penetration...into Iran." -- Peter Avery, The Middle East Journal |
Histories
By Herodotus
"The father of history," as Cicero called him, and a writer possessed
of remarkable narrative gifts, enormous scope, and considerable charm, Herodotus
has always been beloved by readers well-versed in the classics. Compelled by his
desire to "prevent the traces of human events from being erased by time,"
Herotodus recounts the incidents preceding and following the Persian Wars. |
The Persians
Greek tragedy
By Aeschylus
The Persians, Aeschylus' earliest surviving tragedy, holds a fascination both
for readers of Greek drama and Greek history. It is the earliest existing play in
the Western tradition, it is drawn directly from the Persian Wars composed by an
eyewitness. And as pure tragedy, it is a masterpiece. |
The
Greco-Persian Wars
History
By Peter Green
Popular classicist Peter Green (author of Alexander of Macedon, 356-323 B.C.)
offers an engrossing narrative of the wars between the Greeks and the Persians. This
is real David-and-Goliath material, with the scrappy, feuding city-states of ancient
Greece fending off a much larger aggressor. |
The
Persian Wars
By Herodotos |
The
Persian Boy
Novel
By Mary Renault
The Persian Boy traces the last years of Alexanderís life through the eyes
of his lover, Bagoas. Abducted and gelded as a boy, Bagoas was sold as a courtesan
to King Darius of Persia, but found freedom with Alexander after the Macedon army
conquered his homeland. |
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