Rachel Hall Sternberg's "The Ancient Greek Roots of Human Rights"

Rachel Hall Sternberg is an associate professor of classics and history at Case Western Reserve University. She is the author of Tragedy Offstage: Suffering and Sympathy in Ancient Athens and editor of Pity and Power in Ancient Athens.

Sternberg applied the “Page 99 Test” to her new book, The Ancient Greek Roots of Human Rights, and reported the following:

On page 99 of The Ancient Greek Roots of Human Rights, one finds a brief, heartfelt discussion of how opera purveyed in Europe and America the core values of individual dignity and human value that the Greeks expressed more than 2,000 years ago. The discussion is a side trip that evinces the flavor of my book -- its novelty and breadth. Page 99 is not the book in miniature, but it is a spicy sample, so I'd say your "test" works! My goal was to produce a succinct, accessible book instead of a weighty tome, with a suggestive rather than a comprehensive treatment of my ambitious topic. I poured a lot of love into writing this book, so I hope it will be fun to read and thought-provoking, too.

Learn more about The Ancient Greek Roots of Human Rights at the University of Texas Press website.

--Marshal Zeringue