Review
"Here is a work of dazzling erudition which remains hugely readable - what more can one ask" --John Julius Norwich
"After over thirty years of reading philosophical books and articles on Socrates (and even writing some of them!) it is very refreshing to see him approached from the perspective of his material and cultural environment. It anchors and illuminates the nature of his mission and achievements and really brings the period alive."--Angie Hobbs, Senior Fellow in the Public Understanding of Philosophy, University of Warwick
"No one before Bettany Hughes has thought to weave Socrates’ examined life into so rich a tapestry of democratic Athens's teeming high-cultural and mundane experience. Lucky readers will be drawn by Ms Hughes's beguiling prose into exploring the highways and byways of Athens's urban topography, the devices and desires of the world's first democratic regime, and a Mediterranean world of sex, violence, sympotic carousing and great man-made beauty."--Professor Paul Cartledge, A. G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture, University of Cambridge
"Terrific and passionate writing about a philosopher whose heroism is unquestionable; and as lively and learned an introduction to classical Athens as you could want."--The Telegraph
"She does a very good job of re-creating the material world in which Socrates lived, presenting ancient Athens as a much gaudier, dirtier, smellier and in some respects more industrial place than we often imagine."--The Sunday Times
"Bettany Hughes breathes life into Socrates... Hughes’ expert attempts to make him flesh and blood, to fill in the gap… teach us about the value of the real as well as the philosophical."--The Scotsman
"Hughes cleverly extracts the man from the dramatic scene-setting in the Platonic dialogues and puts him in his life and times by reconstructing ancient Athens and putting the same questions to us that he puts to adherents and fellow citizens. Hughes credits two editors for saving her from ‘extreme colloquialism’ but enough survives to give this intelligent, bright-eyed, vigorous book a life as vibrant as that lived by its subject."--The Times
Book Description
Product Description
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.
From the Inside Flap
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.
From the Back Cover
Praise for The Hemlock Cup
'The most fascinating of subjects, handled with style, learning and a wide engagement with the evidence and its many different landscapes. Bettany Hughes is an author whom everyone will enjoy and she has brought her exceptional talents to bear on the possibilities and impact of the most
famous heroine in history.' Robin Lane Fox
'Hughes skilfully brings this period back to life. A fascinating window on to the power politics of an age...a genuinely exciting historical narrative.' Sunday Telegraph
'This book is a real tour de force. It combines astonishing erudition and knowledge of the early classical world with a wonderful easy fluency of writing. It has taught me a lot, and I have enjoyed every page.' John Julius Norwich
'Hughes's speculations are spectacular... Hughes's golden girl, sandals slapping through Mycenean wine-cellar, is a stronger construct than any Helen I have met before.' Independent on Sunday
