Reference Reviews

Reference for Students

Ancient Greece. Edited by Thomas J. Sienkewicz. Pasadena, Calif.: Salem Press, Inc., 2007. 3 vols. 1030 p. $207.00. ISBN 10-1-58765-281-1. ISBN 13-978-1-58765-281-3.

The study of ancient Greece is one of those topics that seems to move around the curriculum from grade to grade in elementary through high school. This set will help teachers at all three levels and students in middle and high school. The complete list of contents and 3-line maps: the Mediterranean World in 7th century B.C.E., Classical Greece and the Hellenistic World, and a 2-page key to pronunciation, are found at the beginning of each volume. The 315 essays range in length from 1-8 pages. Overviews are given of art and architecture, daily life, education, government, language, literature, medicine and health, mythology, performing arts, philosophy, religion, science, sports and entertainment, warfare and women’s life. One finds biographical entries for statesmen, military leaders, artists, writers, scientists and philosophers. For each signed entry, the name is given, the vocation, dates, category such as art and architecture, life and influence. For topics or events, a one-sentence explanation is followed by date and category and the essay. Entries also have “see also” references. Black and white illustrations are reproductions of paintings or sketches. Inset boxes offer additional information such as a listing of the Kings of the Argead Dynasty. Vol. 3 has an 8-page glossary, an 18-page list of historic sites, many with an URL for further information, an 8-page list of literary works, a 4-page time line, 33 pages of bibliography, 5 pages of Web sites and 3 indexes: category, personages and subject. If you only get a copy for the high school libraries, tell your middle and elementary school counterparts that you have it.