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A riveting, lively and brilliantly researched biography of Socrates by the author of the acclaimed bestseller Helen of Troy We think the way we do because Socrates thought the way he did. His aphorism 'The unexamined life is not worth living' may have originated twenty-five centuries ago, but it is a founding principle of modern life. Socrates lived and contributed to a city that nurtured key ingredients of contemporary civilisation - democracy, liberty, science, drama, rational thought - yet, as he wrote nothing in his lifetime, he himself is an enigmatic figure.The Hemlock Cup gives Socrates the biography he deserves, setting him in the context of the Eastern Mediterranean that was his home, and dealing with him as he himself dealt with the world. Socrates was a soldier, a lover, a man of the people. He philosophised neither in grand educational establishments nor the courts of kings but in the squares and public arenas of Golden Age Athens. He lived through an age of extraordinary materialism, in which a democratic culture turned to the glorification of its own city; when war was declared under the banner of democracy; and when tolerance turned into intimidation on streets once populated by the likes of Euripides, Sophocles and Pericles. For seventy years he was a vigorous citizen of one of the greatest capitals on earth, but then his beloved Athens turned on him, condemning him to death by poison.Socrates' pursuit of personal liberty is a vibrant story that Athens did not want us to hear, but which must be told.Bettany Hughes has painstakingly pieced together Socrates' life, following in his footsteps across Greece and Asia Minor, and examining the new archaeological discoveries that shed light on his world. In The Hemlock Cup she reveals the human heart of the man, and relates a story that is as relevant now as it has ever been.

Product Identifiers

PublisherVintage Publishing

ISBN-139780099554059

eBay Product ID (ePID)109167931

Product Key Features

Book TitleThe Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens and the Search for the Good Life

AuthorBettany Hughes

FormatPaperback

LanguageEnglish

TopicPopular Philosophy

Publication Year2011

GenreBiographies & True Stories

Number of Pages544 Pages

Dimensions

Item Height198 mm

Item Width129 mm

Item Weight453 g

Additional Product Features

Country/Region of ManufactureUnited Kingdom

Title_AuthorBettany Hughes

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by northshingle
12 Aug, 2017
Socrates revivified
A compelling, articulate and mega-researched tome of academic and literary excellence. But by no means a stuffy read. Follows Socrates and his peers around Athens, bringing to page-turning life the events, processes and environs of the city if Athena that lead to Socrates' court appearance and subsequent death by hemlock. A must for hellenophiles...or whatever one calls enthusiasts of the history of ancient Greece. It's as if we were all there once. But then, we were.
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