The Echo of Greece

By: Edith Hamilton

Narrated by: Nadia May

"Fourth-century Athens has a special claim on our attention," writes the author, "apart from the great men it produced, for it is the prelude to the end of Greece....The kind of events that took place in the great free government of the ancient world may, by reason of unchanging human nature, be repeated in the modern world. The course that Athens followed can be to us not only a record of old unhappy far-off things but a blueprint of what may happen again."

With the clarity and grace for which she is admired, Edith Hamilton writes of Plato and Aristotle, of Demosthenes and Alexander the Great, of the much-loved playwright Menander, of the Stoics, and finally of Plutarch. She brings these figures vividly to life, not only placing them in relation to their own times but also conveying very poignantly their meaning for our world today.

©1957 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. (P)1994 Blackstone Audiobooks

An interesting book from beginning to end

A book hard to put down… how Greek philosophy and culture are still influencing us in a positive way to this very day

Excellent narration, incredibly researched.

This book answers many of the questions that were posed by”The Greek Way” almost 20 years prior. The narrator of this recording has great clarity of voice with a tone that is still friendly to the ear 30 years later.

The more brief, political edition of The Greek Way

What did you love best about The Echo of Greece?

This can be a better approach to the ancient Greeks for those looking for a quick review of the philosophical and cultural underpinnings of the brief Greek democratic experiment for which Greece is often lionized in the West. Key philosophers, including one or two lesser knowns, and the gist of the major battles give insights into what Hamilton has claimed is unique amidst the ancient world to which Greece once belonged and helped to define.If, however, you see both titles (Echo of Greece and The Greek Way), and you're wanting to greater treatment, the author herself recommends the revision (The Greek Way) as the fuller accounting. *** Caveat: I do think the current publisher to be remiss in not indicating this important little fact in the title summary.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Echo of Greece?

There are too many to count.

Have you listened to any of Nadia May’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

About the same--which means great, actually.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It directs and sobers the western mind as to the true origins of what we usually call "western culture".

Required Reading

A more significant book about Western thought and Philosophy I know not.
Until now my ignorance of pre-Christian Greco/Roman knowledge/philosophy was embarrassing.
WOW is about all I can say, as I’ve only just finished it.
I will be reading it again starting tomorrow.

Good stuff

A good breakdown of the wisdom that came out of Greece
Give it a listen