THE LYRIC AGE

Greek history from the emergence of the Hellenes up to the beginning of the golden age. By A. R. Burn.

Written as a stand alone text, my copy of this book is part of the four volume Folio Society Greek history set. First published in 1960, the book covers the first appearance of Greeks as a recognisable race circa 750BC through to the beginning of their ascendancy as the dominant Mediterranean nation by c510BC.

Minutely researched, Burn covers each and every aspect of Greek culture and society – be it military matters; the appearance of comedy; the unusual practice of colonisation that led to such a rapid Greek disapora; religion; philosophy; trade and, of course, the political and military history of the disparate city states.

Beginning at the dawn of Greek history, Burn charts their rise and then plots a course through the different areas touched by Greek culture before making a detailed examination of the different Greek political systems as they became ascendant and then faded away until the time of Athens’ emergence as the leading light (with Sparta as an extended footnote, as it were).

Burn finishes the work covering Greek thought at the time, but his coverage of lyric poetry is, in my opinion, far better than that of philosophy – but then I do have the advantage of having studied Greek philosophy and so was probably expecting too much.

Again this is pretty much purely an academic work, but one that is well worth reading for those who are interested in Greek political life and thought, as it gives an invaluable background to the people of the time that called themselves Hellenes.