Description

Book Synopsis

Nicolson crafts a geography of the ancient world and a brilliant exploration of our connections to the past.

What is the nature of things?
What is justice? How can I be myself?
How should we treat each other?

Before the Greeks, the idea of the world was dominated by god-kings and their priests. Twenty-five hundred years ago, in a succession of small eastern Mediterranean harbor cities, a few heroic men and women decided to cast off mental subservience and apply their own thinking minds to the conundrums of life.

These great innovators shaped the beginnings of western philosophy. Through the questioning voyager Odysseus, Homer explored how we might navigate our way through the world. Heraclitus, in Ephesus, was the first to consider the interrelatedness of things. Xenophanes of Colophon was the first champion of civility. On the Aegean island of Lesbos, the early lyric poets Sappho and Alcaeus asked themselves, How can I be true to myself? On Samos,

How to Be

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    A Hardback by Adam Nicolson

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    Order before 4pm today for delivery by Mon 23 Nov 2026.

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      Book details

      Publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux
      Published 17 October 2023
      ISBN-13 9780374610104
      978-0374610104
      ISBN-10 037461010X

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      Nicolson crafts a geography of the ancient world and a brilliant exploration of our connections to the past.

      What is the nature of things?
      What is justice? How can I be myself?
      How should we treat each other?

      Before the Greeks, the idea of the world was dominated by god-kings and their priests. Twenty-five hundred years ago, in a succession of small eastern Mediterranean harbor cities, a few heroic men and women decided to cast off mental subservience and apply their own thinking minds to the conundrums of life.

      These great innovators shaped the beginnings of western philosophy. Through the questioning voyager Odysseus, Homer explored how we might navigate our way through the world. Heraclitus, in Ephesus, was the first to consider the interrelatedness of things. Xenophanes of Colophon was the first champion of civility. On the Aegean island of Lesbos, the early lyric poets Sappho and Alcaeus asked themselves, How can I be true to myself? On Samos,

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