A classic work, Edith Hamilton's best-seller, The Greek Way, captures with "Homeric power and simplicity" the spirit of Greece's golden age in the 5th century BC, its era of highest achievements. It explores Greek aesthetics in sculpture and writing, as well as the absence of decorative elements in them. It analyzes the works of Homer, Pindar, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Aristophanes, and Euripides, among others, the philosophy of Socrates and Plato's role in preserving it. It presents the historical narratives of Herodotus and Thucydides on the Greek wars with the Persians and Spartans, as well as those of Xenophon regarding the civilized way of life.