The Other Greeks: The Family Farm and the Agrarian Roots of Western Civilization
For generations, scholars have focused on the rise of the Greek city-state and its brilliant cosmopolitan culture as the ultimate source of the Western tradition in literature, philosophy, and politics. This passionate book leads us outside the city walls to the countryside, where the vast majority of the Greek citizenry lived, to find the true source of the cultural wealth of Greek civilization. Victor Hanson shows that the real "Greek revolution" was not merely the rise of a free and...
Search in google:
For generations, scholars have focused on the rise of the Greek city-state and its brilliant cosmopolitan culture as the ultimate source of the Western tradition in literature, philosophy, and politics. This passionate book leads us outside the city walls to the countryside, where the vast majority of the Greek citizenry lived, to find the true source of the cultural wealth of Greek civilization. Victor Hanson shows that the real "Greek revolution" was not merely the rise of a free and democratic urban culture, but rather the historic innovation of the independent family farm.The farmers, vinegrowers, and herdsmen of ancient Greece are "the other Greeks," who formed the backbone of Hellenic civilization. It was these tough-minded, practical, and fiercely independent agrarians, Hanson contends, who gave Greek culture its distinctive emphasis on private property, constitutional government, contractual agreements, infantry warfare, and individual rights. Hanson's reconstruction of ancient Greek farm life, informed by hands-on knowledge of the subject (he is a fifth-generation California vine- and fruit-grower) is fresh, comprehensive, and absorbing. His detailed chronicle of the rise and tragic fall of the Greek city-state also helps us to grasp the implications of what may be the single most significant trend in American life today—the imminent extinction of the family farm.
AcknowledgmentsAuthor's NoteIntroduction: Agrarianism, Ancient and Modern: The Origin of Western Values and the Price of Their Decline1Pt. 1The Rise of Small Farmers in Ancient Greece1The Liberation of Agriculture252Laertes' Farm: The Rise of Intensive Greek Agriculture473Hesiod's Works and Days: The Privilege of the Struggle914The Ways of Farmers127Pt. 2The Preservation of Agrarianism5Before Democracy: Agricultural Egalitarianism and the Ideology Behind Greek Constitutional Government1816The Ways of Fighters2217The Economy of Agrarian Warfare291Pt. 3To Lose a Culture8Hoplites as Dinosaurs3279The Erosion of the Agrarian Polis35710Epilogue: World Beneath Our Feet405Appendix: Farming Words435Notes445Abbreviations of Ancient Authors and Works499Bibliography of Works Cited507Index531
