How to Fit All of Ancient Greece in an Elevator
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- ISBN 9780008596101
- Weight: 260g
- Dimensions: 129 x 198mm
- Publication Date: 03 Jul 2025
- Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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'Irresistibly fascinating' MARIE CLAIRE GREECE
'Essential' VICTORIA HISLOP
'Brilliantly conceived' PAUL CARTLEDGE
An enormous bestseller in Greece, this is a bold, witty retelling of the story of Ancient Greece by a rising star in archaeology
Two strangers meet in a trapped elevator. One is an archaeologist, the other isn’t. A simple question, ‘What do you do?’, becomes the springboard for a dialogue that weaves a fascinating tale.
Archaeologist Theodore Papakostas takes the reader on a spectacularly iconoclastic and hugely engrossing journey through ancient Greece, from its beginnings in prehistory to its end. Marvelling at the exalted moments in history as well as the more mundane, Papakostas introduces the reader to countless fascinating stories about the cradle of western civilisation – many of which upend received wisdom about the empire as well as about archaeology itself. Along the way, he settles questions such as: What did a Minoan princess pack for a trip to Egypt? How did a raunchy dance lead to the birth of Democracy? Why did Heraclitus suggest that Homer should be slapped?
A whistle-stop tour through three hundred years of Greek history, How to Fit All of Ancient Greece in an Elevator is an unforgettable love letter to the treasures we’ve inherited from the ancient world, as well as to those who have helped us unearth them.
Dr Theodore Papakostas is an archaeologist. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Archaeology from the University of Reading and his MA in Prehistoric Archaeology from the University of Nottingham. He has participated in excavations in Greece and the UK and has worked at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki and the Archaeological Service of Kilkis. He completed his PhD in Classical Archaeology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 2017.
Theo, who is known as ‘Archaeostoryteller’ on all social media, has presented two documentary series on Greek television and his podcast (Archaeostoryteller) is one of the top five most popular podcasts in Greece.
