• The Modern Scholar

  • History of Ancient Greece
  • By: Eric H. Cline
  • Narrated by: Eric H. Cline
  • Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (212 ratings)

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The Modern Scholar

By: Eric H. Cline
Narrated by: Eric H. Cline
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Publisher's summary

In this intriguing series of lectures, prolific researcher, author, and George Washington University professor Eric H. Cline delves into the history of ancient Greece, frequently considered to be the founding nation of democracy in Western civilization. From the Minoans to the Mycenaeans to the Trojan War and the first Olympics, the history of this remarkable civilization abounds with momentous events and cultural landmarks that resonate through the millennia.

Ancient Greece, indeed, lives on in modern culture, evidenced by an ever-present fascination with the tales of Homer, Greek drama, and the spectacular stories associated with Greek mythology. In the rise of Sparta and Athens, and the origins of democracy in Greek society, people today find a wealth of relevant material for understanding not only ancient Greece, but the modern world. And there is no greater fount of learning than that supplied by the immortal philosophers of Greece: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.

©2007 Eric H. Cline (P)2007 Recorded Books, LLC

What listeners say about The Modern Scholar

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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent survey

This is a perfectly-pitched survey of Ancient Greece. If you're like me, you know the vague outlines of Greek history, but wanted to know more of the details. If so, this will be an excellent series of lectures for you: the lecturer gives you a solid outline of the historical facts, covering a bit of social history and philosophy along with the stories of the kings and warrriors, and he organizes it well, with summaries at the end to remind you of what you've learned. He never condescends, speaking briskly and packing lots of information into each short lecture.

By the way, the reviewer who says there is 'too much Christianity' in these lectures must be reviewing some other audiobook by mistake - there is no mention of Christianity at all in this one.

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24 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Extremely informative

This series of lectures is extremely informative and enjoyable. A detailed overview of Greek history it is a very good introduction to the ancient Greeks. If you already have a working knowledge of Greek history it's a pretty good review if you don't it's an even better place to start. Well worth the time and money. I'd buy it again.

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22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Had promise

The lecture had great promise and I had hoped to enjoy it as much as I had the Modern Scholar lecture on Rome (which was excellent); however, this was not the case. Although deep with facts and interesting (due to the subject matter), there is a clear Christian bias throughout that pollutes the entire lecture and empties it of any credibility. Obviously Christianity is a huge part of the time period but should not have been given any more creedence than was given the Roman or Greek religions in their lectures. Unfortunately it was and this contaminates the descriptions of events, which events were more important than others and the motivations of many of the players. Very unprofessionally done IMHO due to this one glaring error. Too bad really. I do NOT recommend anyone waste their time with this but PLEASE do explore the many other Modern Scholar selections as the others I've tried have been excellent.

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20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A good survey : listenable , but a bit light...

If you've a vague or no idea of the ancient Greek history and you'd like to know the big picture , this book is for you. The history is presented with clarity and it is easy to follow. However for more knowledgeable readers this is far too light , i.e more an high school book than a source for more academic information. The author goes trough smoothly major events and anecdotes without really trying to raise and discuss more interesting issues that go behind battles and kings.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars

Easy to understand

What about Eric H. Cline’s performance did you like?

Clearly explained in nontechnical terms. Easy to understand and comprehend.

Any additional comments?

A clearly explained account of Greek history from the ancient times to the death of Alexander the Great. I am no historian but I do enjoy reading history and Mr. Cline's course cleared up a lot of areas of confusion for me.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Great content, clunky lecture

This is a solid overview of Ancient Greece. The lecturer is a bit awkward, but in a harmless, even endearing way. If you know little or nothing about Greek history, I recommend this course highly.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great overview

After listening to this course I feel that I have a pretty good understanding of the names, times and places related to the history of the Ancient Greece. It would be true to say that my knowledge remains shallow but then there are other books and courses to go deep. This course was the first on the subject and I think it was a good start.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Eric Cline is always entertaining and to the point

I wish it was longer! Somehow, he seems to have gotten all of the high points of Greek History into this audiobook. Like all of Cline’s lectures/books, this is highly re-listenable!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Professor Kline Rocks

I wish this course was longer. modern scholar kept courses down below 8 hours but even though he had to abbreviate some of the topics, Kline did a great job nonetheless. I like this course and listened to it a half dozen times since I bought it 18 months ago. Thanks for the hard work and hope you write another book soon.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Greek History

I listened to the lectures happily enough. They are affably and intelligently presented, though not particularly incisive. As an introduction to the Greeks, they do fine.

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1 person found this helpful