Books in the Onassis Series in Hellenic Culture series

A long overdue and thrillingly paced narrative of one of the most dramatic periods in Medieval history, Streams of Gold, Rivers of Blood provides an engaging chronicle of the various imperial upheavals, from the conquests of Basil to the collapse of Constantinople, concluding with the First Crusade.

The first exhaustive treatment of ritual brotherhood in Byzantium, this book challenges the "Boswell Thesis" and argues that the ecclesiastical ritual to bless a relationship between two men bears no resemblance to marriage, but has its origins in early monasticism.

Paul Stephenson twists together multiple strands to relate the cultural biography of a unique monument, the Serpent Column, which stands today in Istanbul 2500 years after it was raised at Delphi.

Many modern readers believe that in his dramas Euripides was questioning the existence of the gods. In Euripides and the Gods, eminent classicist Mary K.

The Age of Titans examines how heavy warships crewed by thousands of men developed from the agile triremes so popular during the Greek Classical Age. Following Alexander the Great, a new focus on naval siege warfare explains the rise in popularity of big ship navies and defines the model of naval power they made possible.

Adventures with Iphigenia in Tauris provides a rich narrative of the cultural history and influence of an oft-overlooked Euripidean tragedy

Nature and Illusion is the first extended study of the portrayal of nature in Byzantine art and literature. It provides a new view of Byzantine art in relation to the medieval art of Western Europe.

Byzantine princess Anna Komnene is known for writing history and plotting to become empress by murdering her brother. This book explains how Anna broke her culture's rules for women's behavior by writing history, her efforts to be acceptable, and how her writing nonetheless fired the story of her bloodthirsty ambition.

Where does the Greek novel come from? This book argues that whereas much of Greek literature was committed to a form of cultural purism, presenting itself as part of a continuous tradition reaching back to Homer, the novel revelled in its hybridisation with Persian, Egyptian and Jewish culture.

The rich and diverse architectural traditions of the Eastern Mediterranean and adjacent regions are the subject of this book, including the social and cultural developments of the Byzantine Empire, the Caucasus, the Balkans, and Russia, as well as parallel developments in Crusader and early Islamic architecture.

This book investigates the kinds and quantities of treasure seized by Alexander the Great, from gold and silver to land and slaves. It reveals what became of the king's wealth, and what Alexander's redistribution of these vast resources can tell us today about his much-disputed policies and personality.