Ancient Greece

"Take a magical trip back to Ancient Greece, the birthplace of thinking." This quote from the publicity material serves as a caveat emptor for the tape, if I may mix classical metaphors. What about the great Chinese philosophers of the same vintage? Weren't they "thinking?" While providing a quick overview of the lives and teachings of famous Greek philosophers, the tape presents some questionable statements. In the 7th century B.C. Greek colonies, we are told, "man suddenly" started wondering about his place in the world (but isn't it likely that Oga the Cavewoman gazed at the stars and wondered what it was all about?). The program also suggests that it was through "enterprise and effort " that the new leisure-class Ionians came to be philosophy-loving guys (a capitalistic view that perhaps explains why a photo of the New York Stock Exchange is shown during a discussion of Greek philosophy). In short, for brief biographies of Pythagoras , Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, this is okay...but neither essential, nor really a necessary purchase. Also available in the Cradles of Civilization series: Jerusalem. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Reagan)