This monumental work by a distinguished European scholar presents a scrupulously realistic approach to ancient Greek civilization. Professor Burckhardt dispenses with superficial and sentimental views of ancient Greece to embrace a more sophisticated and accurate vision of a complex culture that practiced both the best and worst elements of the social contract. A penetrating thinker with a genius for concrete illustration, Burckhardt begins with a thorough account of the development of the polis, or city-state, exploring its regional variations and offering a balanced appraisal of its virtues and faults. In the second part, he discusses fine arts and their expression, with particular focus on sculpture, painting, and architecture. Part Three examines poesy and music, with an in-depth account of Homeric traditions and their role in maintaining the form and order of Greek beliefs and myths, as well as a consideration of other poetic forms, including the classical theater. The final part comprises perceptive accounts of numerous and enduring Greek achievements in philosophy, science, and oratory. In addition to an excellent glossary, the work is profusely illustrated with 80 photographs and many fine drawings.
Reprint of the Frederick Ungar Publishing Company, New York, 1963 edition.

Table of Contents for History of Greek Culture

Part I
STATE OF THE NATION
Chapter One The Polis
Chapter Two The Polis in Its Historical Development
I. Kingship
2. Sparta
3. Subservient People in Other Poleis
4. Slavery
5. The Greek Aristocracy
6. The Tyranny
7. Democracy and Its Development in Athens
8. Democracy Outside Athens
9. The Enduring Quality of City Populations
Chapter Three Objective Consideration of the Forms of the State
Chapter Four The Unity of the Greek Nation
I. Internecine Warefare and the Forces of National Unification
2. Greeks and Barbarians
3. Hellenic Pathos
Part II
THE FINE ARTS
Chapter Five The Awakening of Art
Chapter Six The Genres of Art
I. Sculpture
2. Painting
3. Architecture
"Chapter Seven Philosophers, Politicians, and Art"
Part III
POESY AND MUSIC
Chapter Eight The Primeval Age
Chapter Nine Poesy in Hexameter
I. The Homeric Epos
2. Homer and the Greeks
3. The Homeric Hymns
4. "Cyclic Poets, Rhapsodes, and Later Epic Poets"
5. Narrative Poetry of Alexandria
6. Bucolic Poetry-the Late Epic
7. Didactic Poesy (Heisod)
Chapter Ten Music
Chapter Eleven Poesy in Other than Hexameter Measures
I. General Remarks
2. The Elegy
3. The Epigram
4. The Iambus
5. Comment on Lyric; the Aeolic Lyric
6. The Choral Lyric
7. The Tragedy
8. The Old Comedy
9. The Middle Comedy
10. The New Comedy
11. Alexandrian Comedy and Farce
Part IV
"ON PHILOSOPHY, SCIENCE, AND ORATORY"
Chapter Twelve Advantages and Obstacles
Chapter Thirteen The Break with the Myths
Chapter Fourteen The Art of Oratory
Chapter Fifteen The Free Personality
Chapter Sixteen Scientific Investigation
Chapter Seventeen History and Ethnology
Glossary