I really very much love classical Greek plays and stories. In fact Oedipus and Herodotus are in my top-five-of-all-time plays and non fiction lists. But I still find myself getting muddled with the time frames of Greek ancient history. So I needed to improve!

This excellent book takes a broad sweep through Prehistory until just about the bc/ad interchange. My favourite times being prehistoric up to and including the Persian wars (500 to 450bc ish).

It has been a great summary and an easy read. Lots about women’s lives, an area often missed out.

The saddest line:
‘A son, one always raises even if one is poor; a daughter, one ‘exposes’, even if one is rich’

Hard times to be born female in those Hellenistic times.

The author says that Greek history, literature and times are good to ‘think with’. I think he means that our current lives and times mirror what has gone before. It is like we are being shown the future by looking at the past.