The Greeks and the sea.
Beautiful Letters| N° d'inventaire | 12226 |
| Format | 14 x 22.5 |
| Détails | 427 p., paperback. |
| Publication | Paris, 2008 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | 9782251338286 |
The Greeks, it is said, are born sailors. This remark is considered a certainty. To support it, people cite the fact that no point in Greece is more than 100 km from the coast, the tribulations of Ulysses, the colonies established in the Mediterranean basin, the thalassocracy, the maritime hegemony that was the object of so much rivalry between the Greek cities, the fleet of Themistocles, or even the famous "Thalassa, thalassa!", uttered, Xenophon assures us, by the troops of Greek mercenaries during the expedition of the Ten Thousand. This is to make light of a reality that is nevertheless obvious: the marine universe is an inhospitable environment, a hostile element that frightened the Greeks and that they had to appropriate through constantly renewed effort. Jean-Nicolas Corvisier tells the story of this conquest with its uncertain outcome, from its Cretan-Mycenaean origins to the Hellenistic period. Throughout this centuries-long odyssey, the reader will discover the daily lives of fishermen, the organization of maritime trade, the place of the sea in the Greek imagination and religion, witness a number of unusual expeditions, perilous battles, and famous shipwrecks, and meet pirates, daring travelers, and the mythical sirens.
The Greeks, it is said, are born sailors. This remark is considered a certainty. To support it, people cite the fact that no point in Greece is more than 100 km from the coast, the tribulations of Ulysses, the colonies established in the Mediterranean basin, the thalassocracy, the maritime hegemony that was the object of so much rivalry between the Greek cities, the fleet of Themistocles, or even the famous "Thalassa, thalassa!", uttered, Xenophon assures us, by the troops of Greek mercenaries during the expedition of the Ten Thousand. This is to make light of a reality that is nevertheless obvious: the marine universe is an inhospitable environment, a hostile element that frightened the Greeks and that they had to appropriate through constantly renewed effort. Jean-Nicolas Corvisier tells the story of this conquest with its uncertain outcome, from its Cretan-Mycenaean origins to the Hellenistic period. Throughout this centuries-long odyssey, the reader will discover the daily lives of fishermen, the organization of maritime trade, the place of the sea in the Greek imagination and religion, witness a number of unusual expeditions, perilous battles, and famous shipwrecks, and meet pirates, daring travelers, and the mythical sirens.