In this beautifully illustrated and eye-opening book, the author and his associate have accomplished the near impossible: a brilliant history of the mysterious and little-known events on which our modern Olympic Games were patterned. They tell us not only what the actual sporting events and rules were, but who the athletes were and how they were trained, how the games were financed and managed, and how the participants viewed the games themselves....

"The World of Odysseus is a concise and penetrating account of the society that gave birth to the Iliad and the Odyssey - a book that provides a vivid picture of the Greek Dark Ages, its men and women, works and days, morals and values."--Jacket.

"Greek religion is a subject of absorbing interest, essential for the understanding of history and culture, but often puzzling and elusive. This collection of essays ranges over many aspects of Greek civil life, looking at the ways in which religion manifested itself in institutions, art and literature, and tracing the attitudes that lay behind the manifold cults and customs. It is not meant as an exhaustive introduction to the subject, but as a series...