Travelling Heroes

<p><b>Robin Lane Fox's <i>Travelling Heroes:</i> </b><b><i>Greeks and their Myths in the Epic Age of Homer</i></b> <b>proposes a new way of thinking about ancient Greeks showing how real-life journeys shaped their mythical tales.</b><br><br> The tales of the ancient Greeks have inspired us for thousands of years. But where did they originate? Esteemed classicist Robin Lane Fox draws on a lifetime's knowledge of the ancient world and on his own travels to open up the age of Homer. <br><br> His acclaimed history explores how the intrepid seafarers of eighth-century Greece sailed around the Mediterranean encountering strange new sights - volcanic mountains vaporous springs huge prehistoric bones - and weaving them into the myths of gods monsters and heroes that would become the cornerstone of Western civilization: the <i>Odyssey </i>and the <i>Iliad</i>. <br><br> 'A beautiful evocation of a tantalizing world ... <i>Travelling Heroes</i> is a tour de force'<br />&#160;&#160;Rowland Smith <i>Literary Review</i><br><br> 'Lyrical passionate ... his great gift is to make this long-ago world a vivid extraordinary and sometimes frightening place ... a wonderful story' <br />&#160;&#160;Elizabeth Speller <i>Sunday Times</i><br><br> 'Original daring and arguably life-enhancing ... produced with a sweeping narrative flourish worthy of a cinematographer or screenwriter' <br />&#160;&#160;Paul Cartledge <i>Independent</i><br><br> 'Lane Fox argues his case with tremendous style and verve ... learned and always lively' <br />&#160;&#160;Mary Beard <i>Financial Times</i><br><br> <b>Robin Lane Fox </b>(b. 1946) is a Fellow of New College Oxford and a University Reader in Ancient History. His other books include <i>The Classical World</i> Alexander<i> the Great</i> <i>Pagans and Christians </i>and <i>The Unauthorized Version</i>. He was historical advisor to Oliver Stone on the making of Stone's film <i>Alexander</i> for which he waived all his fees on condition that he could take part in the cavalry charge against elephants which Stone staged in the Moroccan desert.</p>