Trace the course of Greek history from the Minoan and Mycenaean kingdoms to the rival city-states of Athens and Sparta to Alexander the Great's empire and the rise of Rome. This vivid account celebrates the extraordinary legacy of Greek civilization: the epics of Homer; the tragedies of Agamemnon and Sophocles; the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle; the architecture of the Acropolis; and the birth of democracy.