Antiquities

Reviews

I am very happy with this book, it has everything in it, there are illustrations, it is -huge- and has amazing information. Very glad I bought it.

Its obviously a book about Greek mythology so nothing to mess up but the book showed up without a scratch on it and it arrived fast

I love to transport myself to another time and place in some other world....ahhh what if all this was true? If it is I would have loved to been a part of it. Everyone interprets life how they see it and in this mythology book we see how others lived and believed. Be it true or fiction it didn't disappoint me.

This book is by far the best I have ever read in the field of Greek Mythology, even when the author takes the time to mention that no book can be truly complete this ones is as close as you can get in a single volume. Every theme is discused and explained, from archeology, topography, social customs and overall hystory and how they affected the creation and expansion of this stories. It is a joy to read, absolutely excellent, buy it now.

This book is the best volume I have seen as an introduction to Greek Mythology. The text is clear and the detail is deep, and the book is absolutely gorgeous. The amount and quality of the photographs in the book is excellent. Highly recommended for anyone wishing to know more about the subject.

Reviews

I ordered about 20 of these books for me and my fellow architecture classmates. We all found it to be brilliant (at 18-21 years old). It is so very well explained with no beating about the bush. It gives you a clear picture, just what you want and need. In addition it takes relatively no time at all to go through and it's actually fun. We all highly recommend it!

Very interesting and well written. Amazing what they thought of then and how it still applies today!

A book, for children and adults, shows us how a Roman city was built, from the ground up. First they make a plan, deciding on how many people will live in the city, where the forums will go, the roads, the walls, the markets, theater, amphitheater and temples. They bring the stone to make the walls and aqueducts. We see how people live in the city, as the book explores the homes, businesses, public spaces and sewer system. We get to see the final, complete, form of the city, full of busy streets, crowded markets, happy homes and tall walls.

I ordered this book for the purpose of understanding Roman constuction of a city. It is definitely an excellent source for those who wish to know how Rome may have organized it's sattelite cities. The books is concise and filled with illustrations to aid the reader in imagining what a Grand scheme a Roman Engineered city must have been (especially considering what setbacks in civilization would come later through the middle ages). I really enjoyed this book, the only setback I have with it is that it is maybe too good at summarizing it's subject. It is a brief read, more belonging to the non-fiction section of a 'Young Adults' library than a history loving 'Adult'. It is a little...sanitized in Roman Rule, and skirts around the visciousness of Italy. One would be inclined to believe the Romans were peaceful while reading this, and forget that they were a civilization bent on subjugaition of foreign lands, and brutal in justice for all citizens. That is the only reason I hold back 1 star; there is much more that could be told, and considering the excellent detail the rest of the book gives, it could have abbreviated LESS in it's timeline, and the reader would have been much more in debt to the author for having done so. I want MORE! A very good source of Roman city information. Well recommended.

The only reason I gave this book 4 stars rather than 5 is that David Macaulay has set the bar so high for himself over the years by writing and illustrating some real masterpieces such as Castle and Cathedral. City is also a great book, just not quite as amazing as others he has written. I bought this for my son, who has always been intrigued by construction projects, but I have also enjoyed it quite a bit.

Reviews

It makes the mean things the Greek Gods did in their stories seem almost nice and kid friendly. It really is packed full of all the things on Greek Gods

I wanted a book that gave an overview of Greek and Roman mythology. and also provided lists of various gods and their counterparts, i.e., the Greek god is ------ and the counterpart Roman god is ------. This book gives me what I wanted.

There are no pictures in this book so it's not much fun. The illustrations that are in the book are bad drawings of ancient sculptures. I'm returning it.

While this reference is quite basic, it is easy to follow the lineage and obtain a working knowledge of classical mythology from this book. HOWEVER, beware that there are several misprints that will confuse the reader, as well as references in the index to characters that do not appear on the mentioned page. Thus, the book is in dire need of a decent editor.

This "Everything" guide is a good book for younger readers and those who are only starting to get into mythology. At over 290 pages, it covers the major players and who's who of Roman and Greek mythology (as in Jupiter/Zeus, Venus/Aphrodite, the Trojan War, Odysseus, et al).However, more serious and 'seasoned' fans and scholars will likely prefer THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY by Kevin Osborn. We're not idiots, of course, but this book is meatier and has more background information on the various gods/goddesses, heroes and stories. At over 350 pages, it is 60 pages thicker than the "Everything" book and has smaller text and less white space. For instance, an entire chapter is devoted to the Trojan War hero Achilles while the "Everything" book only has a few pages, at the most.Fans who want more than classical mythology will want to explore MYTHOLOGY FOR DUMMIES by Christopher Blackwell. This book also delves into the Arthurian legend, Norse myths, Beowulf, as well as world mythology in general (Chinese, Jewish, Hindu, etc).These 3 books are all excellent. The choice lies on the readers' level of interests. I would recommend the "Everything" book to younger readers (middle or high schoolers, for instance) and those who just want the basics on classical mythology.