Robin Waterfield is an internationally acclaimed scholar and author, whose publications range from abstruse academic articles to children's fiction. He has worked as a lecturer, editor and publisher before taking up writing full time. He has about forty books to his credit, with most of his later work cantering on academic works aimed at intelligent lay readers. His most recent books are Xenophon's Retreat: Greece, Persia and the End of the Golden Age (Faber; Harvard) and Why Socrates Died (Faber; Norton; McLeland & Stewart).

Introduction. The Ancient Greek Landscape. HOPE FOR HUMANKIND: The Population of the Earth. THE ASCENT OF THE OLYMPIAN GODS: In the Beginning; War against the Titans; War against the Giants; Zeus and His Brothers. THE GODS OF OLYMPUS: Zeus the King; Hera; Hestia; Demeter; Aphrodite; Ares; Hephaestus; Athena; Apollo; Artemis; Hermes; Dionysus. THE AGE OF HEROES: The Flood; The Line of Deucalion; The Argonauts and the Golden Fleece; The Calydonian Boar Hunt; Io and the Danaids; Perseus and the Gorgon; Bellerophon. THEBES IN THE AGE OF HEROES: Cadmus, Europa, and the Foundation of Thebes; Oedipus; The Seven against Thebes. MYCENAE IN THE AGE OF HEROES: The Curse of the House of Atreus; Atreus and Thyestes; The End of the Atreid Curse. ATHENS IN THE AGE OF HEROES: The First Athenian Kings; The Labours of Theseus; Theseus and the Minotaur; King Theseus. HERACLES: The Birth of Heracles; The Twelve Labours of Heracles; Heracles the King-Maker; Heracles Becomes a God. THE TROJAN WAR: The Marriage of Peleus and Thetis; The Judgement of Paris; The Abduction of Helen; The Greeks Prepare for War; The Greek Landing; Achilles Withdraws; Agamemnon's Dream; Menelaus and Paris; Diomedes' Day of Glory; Hector Triumphant; Envoys and Spies; The Assault on the Ships; The Deception of Zeus; The Death of Patroclus; The Return of Achilles; The Death of Hector; Two Funerals; The Death of Achilles; The Wooden Horse; The Fall of Troy. ODYSSEUS' RETURN: Trouble on Ithaca; Telemachus' Journey; Odysseus on Scheria; The Cyclops Polyphemus; Acolus, the Laestrygonians, and Circe; The Underworld; Dangers at Sea; The Cattle of the Sun; Odysseus Reaches Ithaca; At the Swineherd's Hut; In the Palace; Penelope Meets the Beggar; Vengeance; Reunion. THE END OF HOPE: Pandora. Select Bibliography. Index of Names and Places. Index of Subjects. Acknowledgements.