Now it’s time to give her the truth. Becky’s father is not just absent: he’s a mystery, a gaping hole in her past. He died before she was born and for her mother, Laura, the subject is strictly off-limits. But when Laura books an unexpected trip to Greece, Becky decides to join her, determined to get closer to her mother—and to the truth.As they make their way to the beautiful island of Santorini, it becomes clear that this holiday is not as impulsive as Becky thought. Laura’s hiding something from her daughter—and she’s been hiding it for as long as Becky can remember. Laura has been here before, and that last visit holds the answers to Becky’s past.But Laura’s memories of that first trip are tinged with pain and heartbreak, secrets she’s kept buried for twenty-five years. Now, with the truth emerging into the sunlight at last, can mother and daughter lay the ghosts of their past to rest and find the happiness they’ve both been looking for?

    From a failed relationship, her ruined career and her complicated family life.On the island of Santorini, with its picturesque villas and blue-tiled roofs, and the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean washing away her sadness, Anna has never felt more alive.And then there is gorgeous, mysterious Niko. Will Anna lose her heart in more ways than one?

    After decades of political uncertainty, Greece is polarised between Right- and Left-wing views when the Germans invade. Fifteen-year-old Themis comes from a family divided by these political differences. The Nazi occupation deepens the fault-lines between those she loves just as it reduces Greece to destitution. She watches friends die in the ensuing famine and is moved to commit acts of resistance.In the civil war that follows the end of the occupation, Themis joins the Communist army, where she experiences the extremes of love and hatred and the paradoxes presented by a war in which Greek fights Greek.Eventually imprisoned on the infamous islands of exile, Makronisos and then Trikeri, Themis encounters another prisoner whose life will entwine with her own in ways neither can foresee. And finds she must weigh her principles against her desire to escape and live.As she looks back on her life, Themis realises how tightly the personal and political can become entangled. While some wounds heal, others deepen.

    So cue a trip to a sun-drenched Greek island, ouzo cocktails, a trip down memory lane... and Alex Hallas, the man Beth has never quite forgotten.As they dance under the stars, the sand beneath their toes, old feelings begin to resurface and Beth might just have a chance to take back her life. If they can learn to love the people they've become...

    Yet, as Greece has been brought under repeated scrutiny during the financial crises that have convulsed the country since 2010, worldwide coverage has revealed just how poorly we grasp the modern nation. This book sets out to understand the modern Greeks on their own terms.How did Greece come to be so powerfully attached to the legacy of the ancients in the first place, and then define an identity for themselves that is at once Greek and modern? This book reveals the remarkable achievement, during the last 300 years, of building a modern nation on, sometimes literally, the ruins of a vanished civilisation. This is the story of the Greek nation-state but also, and perhaps more fundamentally, of the collective identity that goes with it. It is not only a history of events and high politics, it is also a history of culture, of the arts, of people and of ideas.

    Nell's daughter, Demi, has never met her dad. Nell never saw him again.When she gets the chance to return to the hilltop town of Vounoplagia - where everything began - Nell can't resist the urge to go back and find him.Working on a honey farm perched high up in the hills, there's plenty to keep her busy. And she will quickly realise the town harbours just as many secrets as she does.But if Nell's favourite romantic films are right, there's a happy ending in store for each of us. All she has to do is seek out the magic of the mountains...

     When our hero, Victor, needs a pseudonym to avoid embarrassing his wife after deciding to pen a book about moving to Greece, he dusts off his original name of V.D. Bucket, the name he was stuck with after being abandoned in a bucket as a baby. As Victor adapts to his adopted homeland he battles an obsession with the exacting hygiene standards he demanded during his illustrious career as a public health inspector against the rather less exacting standards of rural Greece. His attempts to master the complexities of the language lead to a number of embarrassing misunderstandings. Crossing paths with the local undertaker, Spiros, was a stroke of good luck for Victor and Marigold, since he just happened to have a house to sell in the charming Greek mountain village of Meli. Of course Spiros didn’t explain the strange arrangement of an Albanian living in the stone shed at the bottom of the garden, or mention the old lady’s next door filthy habit of burning plastic every morning. He also failed to mention his late uncle had plunged to his death from the roof terrace, but did a wonderful job of selling them on the spectacular views. If you’re a fan of Greek travel and culture, then this book is a must.

    . . Sent away to convent school at the age of six, Irini McGuire has never really known her celebrated archaeologist mother, Bridget, who lives on the paradise island of Santorini. So, when Irini receives news that Bridget has been injured at a dig and is in coma she knows it is time to return to the island of her birth. Discovering her mother's notes, and driven by rumours that her mother's injury was no accident, Irini starts to reveal the dark secrets behind her family's separation.Can she unearth the truth about her parents and her past before it is too late?

    He has left the sword behind him to become a healer in the greatest sanctuary in Greece, turning his back on war.But war has followed him to his refuge at Epidauros, and now a battle to end the freedom of Greece is all around him. The Mediterranean superpowers of Rome, Egypt and Macedon are waging their proxy wars on Hellenic soil, turning Greek farmers into slaves and mercenaries.When wounded soldier Philopoemen is carried into his temple, Alexanor believes the man's wounds are mortal but that he is not destined to die. Because he knows Philopoemen will become Greece's champion. Its last hero. The new Achilles.In Christian Cameron's latest historical novel the old orders of the world begin to fall apart as Rome rises to supremacy - and Greece struggles to survive.

    See the city through their eyes as it teeters on the edge of the fateful war that would end its golden age. Athens, 416 BC. A tenuous peace holds. The city-state's political and military might are feared throughout the ancient world; it pushes the boundaries of social, literary and philosophical experimentation in an era when it has a greater concentration of geniuses per capita than at any other time in human history. Yet even geniuses go to the bathroom, argue with their spouse and enjoy a drink with friends.Few of the city's other inhabitants enjoy the benefits of such a civilized society, though - as multicultural and progressive as Athens can be, many are barred from citizenship. No, for the average person, life is about making ends meet, whether that be selling fish, guarding the temple or smuggling lucrative Greek figs.During the course of a day we meet 24 Athenians from all strata of society - from the slave-girl to the councilman, the vase painter to the naval commander, the housewife to the hoplite - and get to know what the real Athens was like by spending an hour in their company. We encounter a different one of these characters every chapter, with each chapter forming an hour in the life of the ancient city. We also get to spy on the daily doings of notable Athenians through the eyes of regular people as the city hovers on the brink of the fateful war that will destroy its golden age.

     “One never knows where fate will take us. Cairo taught me that. Expect the unexpected. Little did I realise when I left London that I would walk out of one nightmare into another.” 1943. SOE agent Larry Hadley leaves Cairo for German and Italian occupied Greece. His mission is to liaise with the Poseidon network under the leadership of the White Rose. It’s not long before he finds himself involved with a beautiful and intriguing woman whose past is shrouded in mystery. In a country where hardship, destruction and political instability threaten to split the Resistance, and terror and moral ambiguity live side by side, Larry’s instincts tell him something is wrong. After the devastating massacre in a small mountain village by the Wehrmacht, combined with new intelligence concerning the escape networks, he is forced to confront the likelihood of a traitor in their midst. But who is it? Time is running out and he must act before the network is blown. The stakes are high. From the shadowy souks and cocktail parties of Cairo’s elite to the mountains of Greece, Athens, the Aegean Islands, and Turkey, The Poseidon Network, is an unforgettable cat-and-mouse portrait of wartime that you will not want to put down.

    The story begins with the massacre of the Ottoman Greeks and the Population Exchange between Greece and Turkey. The other unknown event is the brutal occupation of northeast Greece by the Bulgarian Occupiers during the second world war. At first the Bulgarians tried to force out the Greek Orthodox, to make room for Bulgarian settlers. They tried to wipe out any vestige of the Greek culture and language. The last phase of their occupation was the transport of the Greek Jews to Treblinka which resulted in their total annihilation. Light and Shadows, the second in the historical fiction series of Greece in the 20th century reveals the untold story of the joys and tragedies that befall the Greek people. It is the story of love,courage and defiance against overwhelming odds. For those who have read Hidden in Plain Sight the first in this series, Light and Shadows presents Rebecca, a Jewish woman very different than Anna. Rebecca chooses a radically different path for herself after the war. Light and Shadows also introduces Andreas a Greek Orthodox man who suffers from PTSD after witnessing his family's death as a young boy during the Turkish genocide of the Ottoman Greeks. Light and Shadows begins in 1922 Smyrna, a beautiful cosmopolitan city in Turkey. The Serafis family disregards the rumors of the approaching Turkish cavalry, due to the presence of 27 war ships belonging to the Great Powers that are anchored in their harbor. Surely they will be safe with that protection. Unfortunately the economic interests of the Great Powers particularly their dependence on oil causes them to turn their backs on the Christians living in Smyrna, resulting in a brutal massacre. In 1941, the Solomons, a Sephardic Jewish family has lived in Greece for centuries. The Axis divide Greece between its allies. The town of Kavala is given to the Bulgarians. Rebecca, the youngest daughter has never married because her family did not have enough means to provide a dowry for her. She and her family have no idea of the fate that awaits them at the hands of the Bulgarians who are aligned with the Nazis.Light and Shadows tells the story of the two children Andreas and Rebecca who meet after Andreas have been orphaned. Rebecca rescues him, finding a family who agrees to raise him as their son. As so begins a life long friendship between the two children which lasts until adulthood. Their friendship blossoms into love during the take over of Greece by the Axis Powers in World War II. The path of their lives intertwine during the war, and they each find a unique way to live with the tragedies in their pasts.

    A village matriarch tries to hold her family together...Her grieving son finds a new life in the Cretan Resistance...A naive English soldier unwillingly finds the warrior in himself...And a fanatical German paratrooper is forced to question everything he thought he believed in. The lives of four ordinary people are irrevocably entwined and their destinies changed forever as each of them confronts the horrors of war and its echoes down the decades.

     Life is sweet for Joanna until the day she gets a call from a lawyer in Greece that knocks her for six. Her father, whom she has never met, has died. Her late mother was always reticent to discuss a vacation romance she had over two decades ago on a tiny Greek island called Skiathos, and Joanna - a hopeless romantic at heart - has always tried to fill in the blanks. According to the lawyer, her father has left her an inheritance. The condition? Joanna must travel to the island to see it for herself...

    

    

    According to history, or mythology, she died at the hands of Perseus, a monster defeated by a hero. Only, she’s not dead, and now her sister Eury is in trouble in the one place Em’s vowed to never set foot on again.Everything she thought was true was a lie. After freeing their parents from an underwater prison, Eury is struck down by a deadly poison and there’s only one person in the world that can stop its fatal blow, the goddess responsible for the curse, the one that damned Em and her sisters for eternity, Athena.The path to Olympus is littered with casualties, some of which belong to her, but Em won’t let her sister become one of them. Even if that means working with the god that stole her heart then abandoned her for eons. Only, what if that was a lie, too?Saving her sister might mean losing herself to the darkness she’s spent lifetimes pushing away and trusting Poseidon might mean losing her heart. Will it take a monster to defeat a goddess?Fans of Laurell K. Hamilton and Buffy the Vampire Slayer will love this sexy reverse mythology!Scroll up to ONE CLICK your copy now!

    Though the islands vary greatly in character, they all share delicious cuisine, hospitable locals and views capable of stealing your breath away. Our recently updated guide brings the Greek Islands to life, transporting you there like no other travel guide does with expert-led insights and advice, detailed breakdowns of all the must-see sights, photographs on practically every page, and our hand-drawn illustrations which place you inside the islands' iconic buildings and neighbourhoods.You'll discover:- our pick of the Greek Islands' must-sees, top experiences and hidden gems- the best spots to eat, drink, shop and stay - detailed maps and walks which make navigating the islands easy- easy-to-follow itineraries- expert advice: get ready, get around and stay safe- colour-coded chapters to every part of the Greek Islands, from Athens to Crete, the Dodecanese to the Cyclades- our new lightweight format, so you can take it with you wherever you goWant the best of the Greek Islands in your pocket? Try our DK Eyewitness Top 10 Greek Islands.

    Fresh ingredients sing from the plate, from juicy watermelon and glossy kalamata olives, to fragrant oregano-roasted lamb and delicate vine-leaf-baked sea bass. Meze features mouth-watering small plates for sharing from whipped dips to meatballs. The sea is woven into Greek culture and seafood is a staple; enjoy the freshest fish and shellfish dishes, cooked simply and served with a squeeze of lemon juice. Meat is a huge part of the Greek diet—rabbit, goat, chicken, and lamb are mainstays with pork enjoyed at celebrations. Cooking it over charcoal is a way of life... The Cypriots use a large rotisserie famous for its souvla (long skewer), while mainland Greece make souvlaki and both grilled and oven-roasted dishes are included here. Greek yogurt, along with artisan cheeses (feta, halloumi etc.) can be eaten hot (saganaki) or shaved into vibrant salads and the tradition of "horta" means there are also plenty of vegetable dishes to enjoy. Finally, Greek desserts are often just a sweet note to savor with a bitter black coffee or you may prefer a Greek-inspired cocktail such as an Ouzo Sour.

    Why the old man held her in such a high regard, is beyond me. She is ungrateful and someone needs to teach her a thing or two. And I have the only right to do so." Evidence and reports condemn the woman he purposefully set to 'teach a lesson', but the truth has a way of creeping out of the most unlikely corners. "She looked at me in the eyes and told me, but I didn't believe her... She lay there with trust in her eyes and let me do that to her and more."One mistake after the other and one fight too many bring them closer to the end. All it takes is three little words to take down his whole house of cards. Now Zac has to trust the only woman who had the tenacity to see beyond his scowls and cold behaviour and not because she was innocent all along. “Her name is Diane. The woman who has made my heart beating."Warning: This book contains themes intended for mature audiences only. Please do not purchase this book if you are offended by sexual situations, abuse, stalking, and explicit language.

    So when his convenient society bride is switched at the altar for her innocent younger sister, Kassiani Dukas, Damen is adamant their marriage will remain strictly business. Yet the intense passion of their Greek Island honeymoon could be this ruthlesss Greek’s undoing!An Innocent to Tame the Italian by Tara PammiWhen faced with a cyber attack on his company, billionaire Massimo Brunetti is stunned to find gorgeous genius Natalie Crosetto protecting the saboteur. Returning to Italy with Nat as his fake fiancé, has this untameable Italian met his match in innocent Nat, who challenges him…and tempts him beyond reason!Reclaimed by the Powerful Sheikh by Pippa RoscoeTen years ago, Mason McAulty’s affair with Prince Danyl Al Arain ended tragically. Now, Danyl arrives at her struggling Australian farm with a million-dollar demand to attend his royal gala. She cannot refuse, but as memories pull Mason back into the arms of the sheikh, will their secret pain be overcome by their intense desire? Demanding his Hidden Heir by Jackie AshendenEnzo Cardinali had never known a passion like the one he shared with Matilda St George during their red-hot Caribbean fling. But when she left he vowed to forget her, rebuilding the walls around his heart. Now Matilda has reappeared—with his son! Enzo demands his heir, but will he claim vibrant Matilda, too?

    

    Whether you're travelling and want to understand the words around you, or preparing to learn Greek and want to master the basics, this is the book for you. In this book you will find: · An introduction to Greek script· Plenty of practice activities to help you recognise each letter of the alphabet · Helpful mnemonics to make you remember the shape of each letter· Accompanying audio files so you know how to pronounce letters and words · Handy tips to help you decipher common and familiar words The audio for this course can be downloaded from the Teach Yourself Library app or streamed at library DOT teachyourself DOT com.Rely on Teach Yourself, trusted by language learners for over 75 years.

    This empire did not survive Alexander's death, and rapidly broke into several successor states. These states, substantial kingdoms in their own right, dominated Asia Minor, Greece, the Levant and Egypt for the next three hundred years.While Philip Matyszak's narrative covers their remarkable contribution of the Eastern Greeks in fields such as philosophy, science and culture, the main focus is on the rivalry, politics and wars, both civil and foreign, which the Hellenistic rulers constantly fought among themselves. As in other fields, the Successor Kingdoms were innovators in the military and diplomatic field. Indeed, their wars and diplomatic skirmishes closely presage those of eighteenth century Europe and the superpower rivalries of the twentieth century. The complex interaction of these different kingdoms, each with its own character and evolving military systems, combined geopolitics and grand strategy with diplomatic duplicity, and relentless warfare. The epic story of the successor states is full of flawed heroes, palace intrigue, murder, treachery, incest, rebellion and conquest.

    Simons for many years. This new book represents the culmination of decades spent researching the history of this fascinating Greek airline. It is a story of evolution, conflict, personality and politics, all set against a backdrop of world and civil wars, coups and counter-coups.During the course of his research, it became apparent to the author that many of the fine details pertaining to the company weren't widely known, although almost everyone had heard of the towering, controversial, leading figurehead who oversaw much of the central part of the story: Aristotle Socrates Onassis. His colorful life is threaded through this history, lending it drama and multiple levels of intrigue.The airline's story cannot be told in isolation. Olympic did not spring fully formed into being in 1957. The named company may have come into being then, but its roots were set much further back in history through a number of predecessor airlines - both national and international - who had been using the Hellenic Republic and Athina as the crossroads of the air for the Eastern Mediterranean since the dawn of aviation.This is the story of the birth and dramatic life of an airline with a chequered, controversial and complicated history. Graham M. Simons has skilfully woven all the various threads to create a powerful and important historic record.

    Those tales of deities and beasts, and of heroes and villains, must have possessed some quality to have lasted so long. Thousands of years on, we still refer in our every day lives to Achilles, Pandora and Narcissus.From Hades in the Underworld to Pegasus in flight, Greek Myths & Legends is an accessible introduction to the world of such characters as the Titans, Aphrodite and Poseidon. The book tells the story of Greek mythology from its creation myths and gods to its tales of mortals. Along the way we see the development of the pantheon of the major Greek deities, the dynastic struggles among the early gods, the creation of the Underworld and we learn how Ariadne, Medea and Perseus, among many others, fit into the mythic universe.The book also examines how Greek myths have survived in written texts, ceramics, art and architecture, and the legacy of Greek mythology in Roman culture and the Middle Ages, as well as its revival in the Renaissance and its enduring appeal today.Illustrated with 180 colour and black-&-white photographs, artworks and maps, Greek Myths & Legends is an engaging, highly informative exploration of a fascinating world and will appeal to anyone interested in legends and ancient cultures.

    Poetry.

    All of these are recounted in the first person by a remarkably resourceful narrator who eventually loses his sanity.Looking at this book in the broader context of Existentialist literature, one cannot help but compare it with the works of French writer Albert Camus, whose grasp of the absurdity of existence liberates man from the hope of a perfect human morality that demands life at any cost.

    Striking a balance between the 'classic classic' (such as Dryden's translation of the Aeneid) and the less familiar or expected, Of Gods and Men ranges from the epic poetry of Homer to the histories of Arrian and Diodorus Siculus and the sprawling Theogony of Hesiod; from the tragedies of Aeschylus and Euripides to the biographies of Suetonius and Plutarch and the pen portraits of Theophrastus; and from the comedies of Plautus to the the fictions of Petronius and Apuleius. Of Gods and Men is embellished by translations from writers as diverse as Queen Elizabeth I (Boethius), Percy Bysshe Shelley (Plato), Walter Pater (Apuleius's Golden Ass), Lawrence of Arabia (Homer's Odyssey), Louis MacNeice (Aeschylus's Agamemnon) and Ted Hughes (Ovid's Pygmalion), as well as a number of accomplished translations by Daisy herself.

    

    . . Sarah Kafatou has given us a gentle-paced, keen-eyed lesson, day by day, in how to live as we get older.”―Rachel Hadas, author of Strange Relation: A Memoir of Marriage, Dementia, and Poetry and Poems for Camilla Pomegranate Years, an intimate account of three years lived on the island of Crete, documents a turbulent, stressful time of economic and political crisis in Greece. It is also deeply concerned with illness and death, as the author's husband Fotis Kafatos, a distinguished scientist, is increasingly affected by Alzheimer’s disease. Fotis remains a full human being, authentic and resilient despite his impairments. Sarah reflects on his situation, as well as on the vicissitudes of daily life, the practice of art, and current events in Greece, Europe, and the US. She takes long walks in the Cretan mountains and discovers hidden aspects of the island. Talks with friends, and her own historical awareness, provide her with a rich sense of belonging. As an account of a solitude, a couple, a family, and a culture, Pomegranate Years is concerned with the question of how to live well at any age, but especially as one grows older and a beloved life draws almost imperceptibly nearer to its end. "Pomegranate Years is full of the deepest questions: How should we live? How do we choose what to do—in our hours, in our lives, and in the days when the one we love is dying? What should we learn? (At this point in the author’s life, Beethoven and Arabic, among many other things.) Gorgeous descriptions of hiking in Crete interweave with thoughts on painting, piano (both playing and composition), poetry, fiction, literary translation (particularly Pushkin), history, and politics. Kafatou’s voice is compelling, inviting one to read further, read again. And with each re-reading one sees new ways to think about one’s own life. This brilliant and evocative memoir is an inspiration."—Grace Dane Mazur, author of The Garden Party "It is a serious joy to read this book. Every page is alive: measured and humane, perceptive, reflective, and upbeat in its compassionate and dignified approach to mortality. It speaks plainly, in a level, discerning voice, of the day-to-day art of living, and is as lucid and open to experience as the Greek light under which it was written."—George Kalogeris, author of Dialogos: Paired Poems in Translation and Guide to Greece "When news that the exceptional scientist Fotis Kafatos had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease reached his many friends and colleagues, the only consolation was the devoted presence of his talented wife Sarah. In this diary, she recounts how she maintained his dignity and her own, as he set forth, an Odysseus destined not to return to his Penelope. It is a moving story, honestly told."—Harold Varmus, author of The Art and Politics of Science, Nobel Prize-winning scientist, former Director of the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute "Six weeks before the celebrated scientist Fotis Kafatos died of Alzheimer’s disease, his wife Sarah noted that the pomegranates in her Cretan garden ‘are ripe, and Persephone will be eating her handful of seeds.’ Whoever eats even a single pomegranate seed will overcome distress. Accordingly, Sarah Kafatou’s journal focuses less on loss than on coping. Recorded so well here, these three pomegranate years reveal their Persephone emulating Milton’s Eve who, hand in hand with Adam when expelled from Eden, wiped away her tears.

    Through archaeological remains, ancient texts, and work by a new generation of historians, a picture can today be built of this remarkable civilization and their capital city. Although the city had been destroyed, the legacy of the Persians survived, even as they mostly remain an enigma to the West and are not nearly as well understood as the Greeks, Romans, or Egyptians. In a sense, the Achaemenid Persian Empire holds some of the most enduring mysteries of ancient civilization. When considering this empire’s rulers, the two most often referenced are Xerxes, the leader of the Persian invasion of Greece which caused the heroic sacrifice of the Spartans and their allies at Thermopylae, or Cyrus the Great, the man who created the Persian Empire. But the Persians had another critical ruler sandwiched between them, and Cyrus’s accomplishments and Xerxes’s defeats would not have been possible without him. That king was Xerxes’s own father, Darius I, best known as Darius the Great. Darius I took the throne after the death of Cyrus’s son, Cambyses II, and though his reign would not have been possible without the construction of the empire and the administrative groundwork laid by Cyrus the Great before him, Darius proved himself just as worthy of the epithet. Reigning for over 35 years, Darius kept control of the massive Persian Empire despite numerous rebellions and uprisings, and he also managed to implement reforms and improvements that established the empire’s golden age. He followed the example of Cyrus before him in his foreign policy and mode of kingship as well, offering tolerance and patience to various cultures and religions, and even treating his enemies fairly in most cases. Perhaps his ultimate success can be seen most clearly in the passage of power at the end of his life. By that time, his reign had been long and stable, and though he died of illness somewhat unexpectedly, his kingdom was still so firmly established that the kingship passed to his son Xerxes without any question or upheaval. Under Darius the Great’s rule, the empire reached its greatest extent, stretching from the Indus Valley and Central Asia in the east to Libya and the Danube River in the west. Xerxes remains one of the most famous rulers in history because he led the Second Persian War against the Greeks. That war was a veritable clash of civilizations, and had the Persians triumphed, Classical Athens would have been snuffed out and Greece would never have formed the backbone of Roman and Western culture. Simply put, the West as it is today might never have existed. Not surprisingly, the majority of surviving sources regarding Xerxes are the product of Greek writers, so it was inevitable that the Persian king has been depicted in unflattering terms for thousands of years. The details of his invasion of Greece cast him as the villain in the dramatic Greek retelling of the tragic 300 Spartans holding the pass at Thermopylae, and focus on the loss at Salamis solidified his reputation as a failure despite another 15 years of successful rule after withdrawing from the Greek mainland. Although Herodotus’s Histories offer a less biased account than some later sources, he still depicted Xerxes as a figure of tragic failings, listening too often to the wrong councilors and eventually collapsing on the weight of his own hubris.