To grok their sense of life, the absolute best book is "The Greek Experience" by Cecil M. Bowra [1]. No other modern book will give you as much (I've read dozens; this one I first read 14 years ago). It's about 200 pages long.
It covers the unity of the Greeks, their heroic outlook, the gods, the city and the individual, the good man and the good life, myth and symbol, imagination and reality, the plastic vision, and the place of reason.
It covers the unity of the Greeks, their heroic outlook, the gods, the city and the individual, the good man and the good life, myth and symbol, imagination and reality, the plastic vision, and the place of reason.
[1] http://www.amazon.com/dp/1857991222