Description

Socrates is revered as a man who spoke truth to power. Yet his death in 399 BC was the first time in recorded history that a democratic government condemned a person to death for their beliefs. His death was a potent symbol of free speech, and Socrates’ fate has haunted Western thought ever since – a guiding influence on Plato, John Stuart Mills, Nietzsche and Martin Luther King.

In this incisive survey of philosophy and politics, renowned classicist and translator Emily Wilson unravels ancient philosophy’s most enduring – and hardest – questions: why did ancient Athens execute its leading intellectual? How do democracies deal with dissent? And can our own society allow for total freedom of speech and thought?

Publisher Review

PRAISE FOR EMILY WILSON: ‘[Wilson] combines intellectual authority with addictive readability — Edith Hall * Telegraph * Enthralling and profoundly relevant — Salman Rushdie Joyful, illuminating and engrossing — Madeline Miller, author of THE SONG OF ACHILLIES [Wilson] scrapes away at old encrusted layers, until she exposes what lies beneath — Nilanjana Roy * FT * Emily Wilson unlocks the gates to ancient Greece and Rome — Peter Stothard, author of HORACE