The historians of Ancient Greece were pioneers of a new literary craft, and their work stands among the world's most enduring and important legacies. This highly readable edition includes key selections from Herodotus-often called the "father of history"-Thucydides, Xenophon, and Plutarch, whose biographies drew on primary sources since lost to history. It collects their most popular, and most widely taught, work in a single, accessible volume. The stories included here chart the landmark events of Ancient Greece-the Persian War, Peloponnesian War, and the lives of Alexander the Great and Demetrius-and add up to a singular portrait of the Hellenic world.

The Greek historians were also the first to explore the possibilities of their craft, introducing, at the very dawn of the field, the concept that historical writing is far more than a chronicle of past events. Taken together, the Greek histories draw attention to each author's emphasis on religion, leadership, character, and the lessons to be drawn from war. Complete with introductions to each historian, footnotes providing valuable context to Greek culture and language, and an appendix on the Greek military world, this volume is an invaluable resource for students and passionate readers of history alike.

From the leading scholars behind The Greek Plays, a collection of the best translations of the foremost Greek historians, presenting a sweeping history of ancient Greece as recorded by its first chroniclers

"Just the thing to remind us that human history, though lamentably a work in progress, is always something we can understand better."-Sarah Ruden, translator of The Gospels and author of The Face of Water

The historians of ancient Greece were pioneers of a new literary craft; their work stands among the world's most enduring and important legacies and forms the foundation of a major modern discipline. This highly readable edition includes new and newly revised translations of selections from Herodotus-often called the "father of history"-Thucydides, Xenophon, and Plutarch, the four greatest Greek innovators of historical narrative. Here the reader will find their most important, and most widely taught, passages collected in a single volume. The excerpts chart the landmark events of ancient Greece and provide a comprehensive account of the entire classical Greek age.

From the start the Greek historians demonstrated how broad and varied historical writing could be and brought their craft beyond a mere chronicle of past events. This volume explores each author's interest in religion, leadership, character, and the lessons of war. How, for instance, should readers interpret Herodotus' inclusion of speeches and dialogues, dreams, and oracles as part of the "factual" record? What did Thucydides understand about human nature that (as he said) stays constant throughout time? How did Plutarch frame historical biography as a means of depicting the moral qualities of great men?

Complete with introductions to the works of each historian, footnotes providing context and explaining obscurities, maps, and an appendix on the Greek conduct of war, this volume is an invaluable resource for students and passionate readers of history alike.