The author has spent years living on the Mediterranean, immersed in the living history and cultures of the basin of civilization. Standing where Hannibal crossed the Pyranees with his elephants, walking the beaches where blackships brought wine and oil to market, visualizing the remarkable realities of the past, all contributed to this novel. We are all a part of a whole that few stop long enough to consider and appreciate: a wonderful fabric woven with the colors of our far-flung antecedents. This book attemps to bridge that gulf. Why do we read the ancient Greeks? When you read the Greeks, you will come to appreciate what the Greeks thought and felt, so exquisitely wrought, and realize how much akin they are to our own modern sentiments and emotions. The Greeks, like Tiresias, foresuffered all, and they were there some three thousand years before us. Their religion served as the foundation for our religions. Their philosophy and learning led the way for our own educational institutions. Their art and creative curiosity opened the doors to our own creative energy, as evidenced over the millennia by the innumerable literary and artistic references to the Greeks. Politicians and officials today owe their systems of public policy to the Greeks. In no small measure, today we owe our concept of governing, our celebrations, our epistemology, our ability to perceive, our religious thoughts, and, yes, our warfare to the Greeks. Today, you will find more relevance in reading the Greeks than you will find in your morning paper.