“…"This book solves one of the great puzzles of history: why did the West become the most powerful civilization in the world? …”

“…‘Abd al-Mu’min (c.1094–1163) did not establish the first caliphate in the Islamic West, but his encompassed more territory than any that had preceded it. …”

Sumario

“…The whole saga, which includes Zeus' plan to reduce the world's population, the Judgment of Paris and seduction of Helen, the start of the campaign, the Wooden Horse, the fall of Achilles, the homecoming of Agamemnon, and the eventual death of Odysseus, was related in six other epics, dating from 630-560 BCE, that were influential for lyric poets, tragedians, and artists of the classical age but are known to us only through fragments and brief prose summaries. In this book Martin West presents all the source material and provides the first comprehensive commentary on it, making full use of iconographic as well as literary evidence. …”