Table of Contents

1. Introduction; Part I. The Genesis of Coined Money: 2. Homeric transactions; 3. Sacrifice and distribution; 4. Greece and the ancient near East; 5. Greek money; 6. The preconditions of coinage; 7. The earliest coins; 8. The features of money; Part II. The Making of Metaphysics: 9. Did politics produce philosophy?; 10. Anaximander and Xenophanes; 11. The many and the one; 12. Heraclitus and Parmenides; 13. Pythagoreanism and Protagoras; 14. Individualisation; 15. Appendix: was money used in the early near East?

Promotional Information

An original theory that connects the development of coinage to the origins of rational philosophy in ancient Greece.

About the Author

Richard Seaford is Professor of Greek Literature at the University of Exeter. He is the author of commentaries on Euripides' 'Cyclops' (1984) and 'Bacchae' (1996) and of 'Reciprocity and Ritual: Homer and Tragedy in the Developing City-State' (1994).

Reviews

'This book is of wider relevance than just to teachers and students of classics, for whom it affords an invaluable resource. It relates to all of us who, as Seaford says, 'live in a world in which the monetisation first observable in the Greek polis has had several centuries to develop ...' The Lecturer 'This book is a tour de force ... It is set to become a compulsory reading for all serious students and scholars of Greek thought.' The Journal of Classics Teaching '... masterful ... This intriguing, provocative book is essential reading for anyone curious about the dynamic forces which propelled Greek culture to its highest achievements in tragedy and philosophy.' The Heythrop Journal '... this is a book that brims with ideas.' Journal of Hellenic Studies