This ebook traces the course of Greek history from the Minoan and Mycenaean kingdoms to the rival city-states of Athens and Sparta to Alexander the Great's empire and the rise of Rome. The vivid account celebrates the extraordinary legacy of Greek civilization: the epics of Homer; the seminal tragedies of Agamemnon, Euripides, and Sophocles; the transforming philosophy of Plato and Aristotle; the architectural wonders of the Acropolis; and the birth of democracy.