Strikingly Well-Organized

Having consumed a number of audio offerings from 'The Great Courses', I can state that the main takeaway I took from 'Ancient Greek Civilization' is that this lecture series has one of the most logical layouts that I have encountered. University of Pennsylvania Classical Studies Professor Jeremy McInerny leads listeners - in turn - through all conceivable aspects of Greek culture - from history to religion to politics to societal attitudes. The material is a little more involved than you might see with an Introductory Course, but acts as a very clear survey. Well Done.

McInerney stumbles on his words and smacks his lips very occasionally.. but his delivery is overall commendable. His lecturing follows the lesson plan seamlessly, but his style includes an appreciated "off-the-cuff" element that puts listeners in a hypothetical darkened lecture hall.. this course feels incredibly authentic.
The appended PDF is likewise excellent: each lecture's summary (including suggested reading & questions for further research) is spot-on. Additionally, the document includes useful maps, a timeline that reorients learners to the chronology of the lectures (McInerney tends to go off on conjectural tangents at times), and an invaluable Glossary of the Important Greek Figures referenced in the lectures.

When all is considered, I rate this audiocourse 9 stars out of 10. McInerney and the Producers are to be commended for putting together a quality presentation (if perhaps over-broad and intermediate between "beginner" and "advanced" in complexity).
I feel fortunate to have gotten this recording offered as a 'Plus' option.. because it would rate a Credit for the right listener.

[Incidentally: The Parallels drawn between stoic, stubbornly conservative, xenophobic, ultrapatriotic, militaristic Sparta among the Greeks and The United States among the modern Western World is fascinating]

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Comprehensive Overview

This was an amazing overview of ancient Greek civilization, from its earliest prehistory, to its supplantation by Alexander the Great's conquests. Exactly as advertised on the cover. I very much enjoyed professor McInerney's approach to the material, focused on discussing how and why things happened, both from the point-of-view of peoples at the time of the events, as well as what we do, can, and should take away from it in modern times. For example, the first few lectures tackle the Minoan and Myceneaen civilizations, going in depth on why we know so little of them, but extracting what we can conclude from the information and relating it to the Greek culture which followed. By the end of the lectures, McInerney has touched on every topic of greek history one could hope for; the politics, battles, cultural evolution, the religion, societal practices and beliefs, the legal developments, philisophical developments, and even the developing conceptions about their neighbour civilizations.
One should not fear the fact that McInerney inserts his opinion on the histories into the lecture. When he does so, he makes clear why a single agreeable answer is not found in the field, what the leading hypotheses are, and why he disagrees or agrees with each one. There are no conscious attempts at obscuring the history or forcing a particular lens upon the audience, which is something I am extremely grateful for.
As others have noted, McInerney chronologically jumps around a fair bit to talk briefly about related subjects from other points in Greek history, but overall follows the civilization's history through chronological order. Although I had just enough requisite knowledge to follow along, others have noted that he sometimes will mention persons, events, and concepts with little-to-no introduction. This is really not a large issue that demands a lot from the reader, but it does distinguish this as not being a "beginner's guide" to the history; rather it is best as an intermediary gateway to further understanding and/or study of the topic. Skimming some wikipedia articles on the broad topics should prime you well enough to follow along. And there's no shame in searching up terms on the side which you don't recognize! For instance, when he mentions characters such as Plato, Socrates, Zeus, or Apollo, these should not be foreign names that cause surprise for you. One should have an idea of where in Greece the major cities of Athens and Sparta exist, as well as the island of Crete. I had never heard of the people Solon or Pisistratus, but due to being less pop-recognizeable, these were given proper introductions.
The accompanying .pdf file is also extremely helpful, giving a short, 2-3 page overview of each lecture, as well as textbook-style questions for the listener to answer to ensure they understood the main points of each lecture. In the endnotes is also a comprehensive timeline so that people can keep track of the chronology as McInerney jumps around, and list of single-sentence bibiolgraphies of all the important persons talked about throughout the audiobook.
Great work, this was exactly what I was expected and needed!

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love it

Great lectures, learned so much. These lectures took me away for hours. I am a big fan of Greece so now I will see so much more when I visit again.

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Very good

Excellent, filled in a lot of gaps in my knowledge of Greek history, and helped put a few things in order.

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