The Greeks and Greek Civilization by Jacob Burckhardt

The Greeks and Greek Civilization by Jacob Burckhardt

In 1872, Jacob Burckhardt, one of the preeminent historians of classical and Renaissance culture, presented this revolutionary work, which portrays ancient Greek culture as an aristocratic world based on a ruthless competition for honor, a competition that led, in turn, to a tyranous state with minimal personal freedoms. Burckhardt's landmark project, the culmination of thirty years of scholarlship by leading Oxford historian, Oswyn Murray, offers a rich cultural history of a fascinating society.

One of the best historians of the nineteenth century was Jacob Burckhardt (1818-1897). He was a mentor to Friedrich Nietzsche and taught history and art history at the University of Basel from 1858 to 1893.