Jeremy McInerney has 3 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 2 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.8★ across 41 ratings. The most-rated is Ancient Greek Civilization.
Ancient Greek Civilization
Summary
Clearly, the Greeks are a source of much that we esteem in our own culture: democracy, philosophy, tragedy, epic and lyric poetry, history-writing, our aesthetic sensibilities, ideals of athletic competition, and more. But what is it about Hellenic culture that has made generations of influential scholars and writers view it as the essential starting point for understanding the art and reflection that define the West? This series of 24 lectures by an accomplished Greek scholar and teacher traces the complex web of links between the present and its Mediterranean origins, taking you from the Late Bronze Age up to the time of Philip II of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great. It's an intellectual journey that lets you see ancient Greek civilization in the light shed by the newest and best research and criticism, expanding your understanding of history, literature, art, philosophy, religion, and more. With a special focus on the two crucial centuries from 600-400 B.C.-the era of the Persian and Peloponnesian wars and of classical Athens as described in the histories of Herodotus and Thucydides and the philosophic dialogues of Plato-you'll come to understand how the uniquely "Greek" identity was forged, and how it gave root to so much of what we consider vital about our own present day. Just as important, you'll learn how the differences between our own modern values and beliefs and those of the Hellenic world-including slavery and the exclusion of women from public life-do not imply a lack of relevance to our own times but can instead teach us as just much as our affinities. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
©1998 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)1998 The Great Courses
The Age of Pericles
Summary
The career of Pericles, the leading Athenian politician and general from c. 450 to 429 B.C., is a prism through which to view the "Golden Age" of Greece, a brief but remarkable era when Athens experienced a cultural flowering of extraordinary power and importance for Western culture. In the generation that followed Pericles' appearance on the public stage shortly after the Persian wars, Athens rapidly transformed the alliance of Greek states - an alliance first created as a defense against the Persians - into a true Aegean empire, dominated by the Athenians and their mighty navy. But this dramatic increase in military power, cultural influence, and prestige was also accompanied by something unique: the growth of full participatory democracy. But in examining the lives of Athenian men and women, one has to ask what freedom and autonomy really meant to a society that relied on slaves and was ruthless in its treatment of its subjects. These 24 stimulating lectures present a well-rounded portrait of almost every aspect of Athenian life during the Golden Age, including. the different ways Athens and Sparta raised their children; the fate of Athenian girls as mothers and managers of the household; young Pericles' role in bringing Aeschylus's masterpiece, The Persians; why the Spartans rejected the aid of Athens in putting down a slave revolt; and Thucydides' terrifying description of the plague's physical and social impact on Athens - including the death of Pericles - and its possible role in the ultimate defeat of Athens by Sparta.
©2004 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2004 The Great Courses
Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age
Summary
This series of 24 lectures examines a crucial period in the history of the ancient world, the age ushered in by the extraordinary conquests of Alexander the Great. In all the annals of the ancient world, few stories are more gripping than those from this era. In the opening lectures, you'll explore the enigma of Alexander, son of a brilliant father, yet always at odds with the man whom he succeeded. You'll trace his early campaigns against the Persians and follow him to Egypt, where he was acclaimed as the son of god. You'll then look at his career after this and find in him a blend of greatness and madness as he strove to replace the Persian empire of the Achaemenid dynasty with a new, mixed ruling class of Macedonians and Persians. From there, you'll delve into the catastrophic period after Alexander's death in 323 B.C., which ushered in a period of catastrophic change as ambitious warlords carved up Alexander's realm into their own separate empires. You'll learn about each of the three kingdoms that resulted: Ptolemaic Egypt, Seleucid Syria, and the Attalid Empire in Asia Minor. Just as important to these lectures are the in-depth discussions of the bounties of Hellenistic culture, which contributed landmark ideas in everything from philosophy (which became more academic), art and architecture (with its excessive, naked emotions), and religion (especially the growing popularity of cult movements). Taken all together, these lectures are an engrossing and riveting journey into ancient history-and the life and times of the man who left an indelible mark on everything that would come after.
©2000 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2000 The Great Courses