H. D. F. Kitto, The Greeks. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc., 1991. 256 pp., index, map.
H.D.F. Kitto was raised in the beginning of the twentieth century in Stroud Gloucestershire. He was first exposed to the classical works of Greece by the headmaster of the Crypt Grammar School. At twenty-three Kitto became a Lecturer in Greek at the University of Bristol. He continued at this position until 1944 when he was elevated to Professor of Greek at the University of Bristol. In 1962 he achieved the rank of Professor Emeritus at Bristol. During his career he published Greek tragedy, Form and Meaning in Drama, Sophocles: Dramatist and Philosopher, In the Mountains of Greece and The Greeks. He also translated Sophocles’ Antigone, Electra and Oedipus Rex. Sadly, Kitto died in January 1982 leaving a wife and two children.
In this introductory text, Kitto attempts to explain the underling themes of Greek culture in order to help the reader understand the actions of the Greeks. To do this the author outlines both the Greeks conception of the polis and their art. Kitto claims that the communal life of the polis is central to understanding how decision making took place. Then, Kitto describes the art of the Greek people to provide readers further insight into Greek culture. Based on the effects of these two fundamental aspects of Greek life the author arrives at his claim that the Greeks saw themselves as being different than those around them.
One of Kitto’s major assertions is that the Greek polis was the realization of the ideal way the Greeks could live. The term ‘polis’ is poorly translated to English as ‘city-state’. However, as the author shows, when the Greeks used the term ‘polis’ they did not refer to the modern concept of the state, but rather to a close-knit community. War, elections and trials and all other decisions were the business of the polis and therefore the business of all the people. Based on this, understanding the concept of the polis as being sort of an extended family for the Greeks, is key to understanding Greek culture. While this helps explain a good deal of Greek life, their art provides further insight into Greek culture and sets them apart from the barbarians around them.
The art of the Greeks is equally vital in understanding the Greek people. To prove this, Kitto provides a lengthy example from Homer, which is more or less characteristic of all Greek art. The passage employees, a contrived plot to prove a point, an intellectual quality, noticeable lack of background scenery to focus the reader on the human characters, a reliance on the Gods to enforce universal moral standards, and is intensely tragic. All of these characteristics both influence and reflect the Greek character. Also, they appear in later Greek art. Such as, in Greek vase painting the background is generally absent making the human figures more prominent. Similarly, the tragic overtones of Homer’s work would be echoed (or amplified) by the later Greek dramatists. Therefore, it is not surprising that Kitto refers to the Iliad and the Odyssey as being the “Bible of the Greeks” (p. 44).
This particular work of Kitto’s is quite well written. The book employees both primary and secondary sources as well as the author’s our experiences in Greece. The author relies mainly on primary sources to defend his claims. The secondary sources Kitto cites are used either to credit previous historians or to let an inquiring reader know about other quality works on the Greek people. The personal experiences Kitto relates help the reader to understand the connection between antiquity and modern Greek life. One such connection is the author’s description of the contrasts in the Greek country that exist even today. Kitto states that he witnessed an, “up-to-date flour mill, into which the corn was brought directly, by, suction, from the holds of the ships that had carried it; two days before, and not twenty miles away ...[from a farm where the threshing was] done in Old Testament style”(p. 29). Overall, this book does a good job of defending a rather broad thesis in a very concise, well written manner. The author clearly enjoys his subject as he has claimed to enjoy to spending his entire career learning and teaching about Greek life.

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