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

626 Pages·2012·6.82 MB·English

by  Bettany Hughes

ALSO BY BETTANY HUGHES

Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore

THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK
PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF

Copyright © 2010 by Bettany Hughes
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf,
a division of Random House, Inc.
www.aaknopf.com

Originally published in Great Britain in 2010 by Jonathan Cape,
an imprint of the Random House Group Limited, London.

Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of
Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hughes, Bettany.
The hemlock cup : Socrates, Athens and the search for the good life /
by Bettany Hughes.—1st U.S. ed.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-307-59529-4
1. Socrates. 2. Philosophers—Greece—Athens—Biography. 3. Philosophers,
Ancient—Biography. 4. Athens (Greece)—Biography. I. Title.
B316.H84 2011
183′.2—dc22
[B] 2 010045486

Jacket image: Socrates, engraving by Thomas Trotter after a drawing
by Peter Paul Rubens. Mary Evans Picture Library.
Jacket design by Jason Booher

v3.1

For

KE-SE-NE-WI-JA

xenwia and xenia

and therefore for my
friends, at home and abroad.
CONTENTS

Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph

1 Acknowledgements
2 Preface
3 Introduction
4 The dramatic story of Socrates – sources and approach
5 Dramatis personæ
6 List of Illustrations
7 Maps
ACT ONE – ATHENA’S CITY

1 The water-clock: time to be judged
2 Athena’s city
3 Socrates in the Agora
4 The Stoa of the King
5 The first blood sacrifice
6 Checks, balances and magic-men
7 Persuade or obey
8 Peitho, the power of persuasion
ACT TWO – SOCRATES AS A YOUNG MAN
9 Alopeke: a philosopher is born
10 Kerameikos – potters and beautiful boys
11 Pericles: high society, and democracy as high theatre
12 Delos – and the birth of an empire
13 Purple ambition
14 Paddling in the river, sweating in the gym: Socratic youth
15 Gym-hardened fighting men
16 ‘Golden Age’ Athens
17 Aspasia – Sophe Kai Politike, Wise and Politically Astute
ACT THREE – SOCRATES THE SOLDIER

18 Samos
19 Flexing muscles
20 Socrates the soldier
21 Demons and virtues
22 The plague
ACT FOUR – NEW GODS, NEW POSSIBILITIES: SOCRATES IN MIDDLE
AGE

23 Silver Owls and a wise owl
24 Hot air in the Agora
25 Democracy, liberty and freedom of speech
26 The good life – after dark
27 Delphi, the Oracle
28 Gnothi Seauton – Know Yourself
29 Aristocrats, democrats and the realities of war
ACT FIVE – THE FIGHT GOES ON

30 The Peloponnesian War, phase two – a messy siege
31 Brickbats and bouquets
32 Amphipolis
ACT SIX – SOCRATES AND LOVE

33 Socrates in the symposium
34 The trouble with love
35 Oh, tell me the truth about love
36 Diotima – a very social priestess
37 Little Bears
38 Xanthippe
39 Alcibiades: violet-crowned, punch-drunk
ACT SEVEN – CUTTING DOWN THE TALLEST CORN

40 Melos
41 Venus de Milo abused
42 Priest of nonsense: playing with fire
43 Sicily
44 Rivers of blood
45 Decelea – closing down the mines
46 Time of terror
47 Arginusae – standing out in the crowd
48 Tall poppies, cut corn
49 Thirty Tyrants
ACT EIGHT – THE TRIAL AND DEATH OF SOCRATES

50 The scapegoat
51 An apology
52 Twilight and Delos at dawn
53 Socrates bound
54 Flight from the world
Coda: The tomb of Socrates – the Tower of the Winds
Afterword
Appendix One Honouring Aphrodite
Appendix Two Mysteria – the Eleusinian Mysteries
Timeline
Text Acknowledgements
Image Acknowlegements
Notes
Bibliography
Illustrations