Christian Meier

A Biography

Caesar

In this outstanding new book, Christian Meier examines the close relationship between drama and politics at the beginning of the great age of Greek tragedy, focusing on the works of Aeschylus. The author examines the political, social and even psychological problems of the inhabitants of fifth-century Athens, during a time of rapid change. Through the role of festivals and the role of the festival of Dionysus in particular, Meier moves on to the interpretation of Aeschylus' plays. He shows how the political statements of the mythical characters made sense of and even influenced the politics of the day. Finally, he discusses the work of Sophocles in counterpoint to the plays of Aeschylus. This book will be of interest to students and academics of history, particularly the history of the ancient world, as well as those studying literature and drama.

The Political Art of Greek Tragedy

A lively and accessible history of Athens's rise to greatness, from one of the foremost classical historians. The definitive account of Athens in the age of Pericles, Christian Meier's gripping study begins with the Greek triumph over Persia at the Battle of Salamis, one of the most significant military victories in history. Meier shows how that victory decisively established Athens's military dominance in the Mediterranean and made possible its rise to preeminence in almost every field of human eavor--commerce, science, philosophy, art, architecture, and literature. Within seventy-five years, Athens had become the most original and innovative civilization the ancient world ever produced. With elegant narrative style, Meier traces the birth of democracy and the flourishing of Greek culture in the fifth century B.C., as well as Athens' slow decline and defeat in the Peloponnesian War. The great figures--from politicians and generals like Themistocles and Alcibiades to the philosophers Socrates and Plato--emerge as flesh-and-blood human beings, firmly rooted in their times and places. This is history in the tradition of Simon Schama and Barbara Tuchman--learned, accessible, and beautifully written.

A Portrait of the City in Its Golden Age

Athens

Introduction à l'anthropologie politique de l'antiquité classique

Ulrich Bartosch

Till Weyers

Die päpstliche Enzyklika Laudato Si hat seit ihrem Erscheinen zu Pfingsten 2015 eine breite internationale Debatte ausgelöst. Die darin enthaltenen Ansätze einer "integralen Ökologie" und der Aufruf des Papstes zu einem konstruktiven Diskurs zwischen Wissenschaft und Religion sind Aspekte, die zum Weiterdenken herausfordern. Der vorliegende Band entstand im Rahmen eines wissenschaftlichen Symposiums der Katholischen Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (KU) und der Vereinigung Deutscher Wissenschaftler e. V. (VDW). Das Symposium hat den Aufruf von Papst Franziskus zum Dialog aufgegriffen und vor allem die ökonomischen Perspektiven der Enzyklika in den Blick genommen. Ziel war, die Zu-Mutungen der Enzyklika Laudato Si insbesondere mit Blick auf Ethik, Ökonomie und Wissenschaft ins Bewusstsein bringen. Mit Beiträgen von: Ulrich Bartosch, Birgit Hegewald, Martin Kirschner, Gerhard Kruip, Anton Losinger, Hans-Jochen Luhmann, Elmar Nass, Ursula Nothelle-Wildfeuer, Konrad Raiser, Ernst-Ulrich von Weizsäcker

Die päpstliche Enzyklika "Laudato SI" als ökonomische und wissenschaftliche Herausforderung

Wirtschaft im Dienst des Lebens?

When and where did Europe begin? With the ancient Greeks, argues Christian Meier. But do we really know who the ancient Greeks were? And what was it that made their culture so special? Taking us on a fascinating tour through the ancient Greek world, Culture for the Sake of Freedom attempts to answer this question - to find the key to the 'miracle' of ancient Greece.

Ancient Greece and the Origins of Europe

A Culture of Freedom

Hans-Hermann Höhmann

Tasks, Risks and External Aspects

Systemic Transformation in the East of Europe

Why the Greeks? How did it happen that these people--out of all Mediterranean societies--developed democratic systems of government? The outstanding German historian of the ancient world, Christian Meier, reconstructs the process of political thinking in Greek culture that led to democracy. He demonstrates that the civic identity of the Athenians was a direct precondition for the practical reality of this form of government. Meier shows how the structure of Greek communal life gave individuals a civic role and discusses a crucial reform that institutionalized the idea of equality before the law. In Greek drama--specifically Aeschylus' Oresteia--he finds reflections of the ascendancy of civil law and of a politicizing of life in the city-state. He examines the role of the leader as well as citizen participation in Athenian democracy and describes an ancient equivalent of the idea of social progress. He also contrasts the fifth-century Greek political world with today's world, drawing revealing comparisons. The Greek Discovery of Politics is important reading for ancient historians, classicists, political scientists, and anyone interested in the history of political thought or in the culture of ancient Greece.

Christian Meier

About

Books

Join the club