Daily life in the time of Homer

“Basing his studies mainly upon the texts of the Iliad and the Odyssey— but also upon the works of many other writers of antiquity and upon our great accumulation of archaeological evidence - Emile Mireaux has produced a picture of everyday life in Homeric Greece that is truly amazing in its immediacy. A whole world of men and women of every class of society, with their cares and anxieties, their hopes and their daily preoccupations, rises from the ashes of the past, lives and moves before our eyes. This was a world in which man lived in close and constant relation with gods amd demi-gods, who could manifest themselves in every shape or form, a world in which everyday incidents could take on a special premonitory meaning. But after explaining Homeric man’s relation to his gods, and his conception of the world in a geographical sense, the author goes on to describe in fascinating derail the lives of aristocrats, noblemen, intellectuals, peasants, soldiers, craftsmen, artisans, public servants, beggars, wanderers and exiles. He describes Iife within the family, the occupations and status of women, the popular festivals and the funeral rites, and the public games. He tells us, too, about houses and furniture, clothes and weapons, decorations and food, work and leisure, sports and pastimes, medicine, soothsaying, vendettas, commerce and carriage, and every conceivable aspect of daily life in the time of Homer. This is a vivid and evocative reconstruction of a richly complex era in human history.” BOOK JACKET