"The Greeks were the inventors of history as we understand it. Yet their historiography remained rooted in myth, and the social context of the inventions for which we rightly treasure their achievements - democracy, philosophy, theatre - was often deeply alien to our own way of thinking and acting. The aim of this book is to explore that achievement.

Paul Cartledge does so by presenting a fascinating portrait of the Greeks in terms of their own self-image, and explores how the dominant Greeks - adult, male, citizens - sought, with limited success, to define themselves in polar opposition to non-Greeks, women, non-citizens, slaves, and gods."--BOOK JACKET.