The Greek Way

The Greek Way is a celebration of the creative, cultural, and intellectual contributions that established Ancient Greece as a harbinger of modern civilization. Written by Edith Hamilton, an American author, educator, and academic largely known for her books on Greek mythology and philosophy, The Greek Way was first published in 1930 and encompassed only the first twelve chapters of the current book. All subsequent editions have included five additional chapters from Hamilton's The Great Age of Greek Literature to present an even more wide-ranging study and appreciation of Greek achievements. Hamilton calls the first edition of The Greek Way "an incomplete work," recognizing later editions as more illustrative of "the breadth and depth and splendor of the intellectual life in fifth-century [BCE] Athens."

Hamilton opens the volume with a general assessment of the various academic and artistic accomplishments of this period in ancient Greek history. From poets and playwrights to thinkers and orators, from architects and sculptors to philosophers and scholars, ancient Athens was a fertile environment for the flourishing of the humanities. It laid the groundwork for all the advancements that would follow, all over the world. Nevertheless, this was no accident, no chance fluke that all of these great minds just happened to be in the same place at the same point in time. Athens had emerged from its own particular and distinctive history, influenced heavily by both Eastern and Western factions; religious beliefs, rites, and rituals; and its unique experience of the larger world. These forces combined to firmly root Athens in the rational and the introspective while it stretched its branches up into the creative ether. As a result, the Greeks came into full being. As Hamilton says, "the world, as we know it, began."

In subsequent chapters, Hamilton expounds on this theory in detail. She takes an interest in how the ancient Athenians were the first to fully embrace both mind and spirit. They lived neither totally in the realm of the intellectual nor totally in the domain of the mystical. This naturally led them to a great sense of joy in life and a remarkable spirit of play; indeed, the Greece of this period is the first to have enjoyed play purely for the sake of play. They invented theatre and the Olympic games, they held sporting events and dance competitions and sing-offs, and they honored those who excelled at play with honors, with statues, with laurels.



However, there was another side to this mind-spirit reality that placed the ancient Athenians in the thrum of life with all its joys. They knew that life was full of sorrow, too. They did not deny this. For proof, Hamilton points to the ancient Greek tragedies that have become the bedrock of modern theatre. These remain some of the bleakest portraits of human misery and wrenching drama. The Greeks understood darkness, depression, and violence. Nevertheless, when they enshrined it in their theatrical works, they didn't make it of a certain place in time; they imbued it with universal elements that would reverberate throughout history—because they knew their pain was nothing new. It was the pain of being human, and it would continue long after they were gone. For proof, look no further than the array of Greek tragedies still performed on stages across the world.

Hamilton also chronicles the contributions of specific individuals. One chapter celebrates Pindar, a lyric poet whom Hamilton calls "the last Greek aristocrat." In another, she delves into some of the key philosophies of Plato, undoubtedly the most famous of all ancient Athenian thinkers. The historians Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon also receive their own tributes.

Hamilton is particularly fascinated by how the Greeks wrote, especially their deft hand at tragedy. The works of playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides (whom Hamilton calls "the poet of the world's grief") are all explored in detail. Yet, it isn't only tragedy that Hamilton plumbs; she discusses the work of Aristophanes—which includes comedies like Lysistrata—as well. These writers planted the seeds of the modern mind, opening the doors to contemporary ways of thinking and experiencing life.



The modern mind, Hamilton says, is not a twentieth-century invention. It has its roots thousands of years in the past; the writers, artists, philosophers, and historians of that era made it possible for modern humans to consider the world in the terms that they do. And just why were those ancient peoples so skilled at this? Hamilton harkens back to the mind-spirit connection again. At no point since has humanity been so well and perfectly balanced between the mind and spirit. Subsequent civilizations have swung too far in one direction or the other; they have either been too caught up in the realm of the religious and mystical, or they have been driven by extremes of thinking and analysis. The ancient Athenians discovered a new way. A middle way. The Greek way.