This provocative collection of essays written by the influential Greek scholar E. R. Dodds between 1929 and 1971. represents the wide range of his literary and philosophical interests. Insightful and learned, the essays combine profound scholarship with the lucid humanity of a teacher aware of the special value of Greek studies in the modern world.

"Dodds is that rare creature, a very learned scholar who wishes to share his thoughts not with his fellow scholars only but also with intelligent readers who are not specialists in his field....This is a fascinating volume."

"[Contains] essays on a theme interesting to specialists in the classics as well as to students in a variety of disciplines....The book is a summary of Dodds' magnificent insight and erudition and an essential contribution to scholarship."

"Assembles...ten infinitely rewarding lectures hitherto difficult (and in some cases impossible) to come by elsewhere....This is a book to buy, cherish, read, reread, annotate, and debate endlessly with friends and colleagues. There is wisdom, illumination, and a sharp challenge to complacency on every page of it. The writing is superb, the irony honed to a fine edge, the wit scintillating and dangerous."