Bettany Hughes has done it again. This
is an amazing book. Examining the Athens
of Socrates, she develops a sharper picture
of the gadfly philosopher and his times.
If you get a chance read her first book on
"Helen of Troy". ( )

One part travelogue, one part history, one part philosophy, one part biography---a fascinating combination. ( )

So it took me forever to finish this book, but it certainly wasn't because I didn't enjoy it. I did: Hughes put Socrates in context thoroughly and lucidly, it was easy to follow and understand. ( )

Review: The Hemlock Cup by Bettany Hughes.

This book was time consuming but I’m glad I took the time to read it to the very last page. I read it in sections between other books. The writing was excellent and I could tell a lot of research went into this book. The book doesn’t just present the facts; it gives a full historical context of Socrates’ life, trial and execution. The events did jump around a bit but I found it easy to place most of the major events chronologically in my mind so I had no problem keeping up with the writer. Plus, with all the history noted it was like taking a stroll through Athens over the years and found myself locked into that timeframe and it felt like I was there.

The author did a wonderful job embracing the subject for homoerotic situations throughout the book. Bettany Hughes also creatively weaves knowledge throughout the book on different subject matters as; archaeology, Greek drama, comedies, geography, data from Plato’s books and descriptive details of Athens, the sights, the smells, the strange religious rituals and the people. She is an exceptional writer of resources, educational standards that held my interest and I enjoyed every last word.

Socrates was born around 469 B.C. and matured into a marketplace philosopher talking about the founding of philosophy which later got him into trouble and cost him his life. Another one of his roles was becoming a soldier. He fought in the Peloponnesian War during his thirties and well into his forties. Sparta (a City in Greece) was their enemy. They were only a three day walk from Athens which kept the military endeavors high on alert and they were a constant worry during Socrates’ life.

It might be an ostensibly biography of Socrates’ however; I thought it was a book about Athens 400-500 B.C. looking through the eyes of Socrates’ and his contemporaries to the world’s first democracy in Athens falling into a harsh domination of power that was ultimately damaged by its pride. By what I read, Athens was powerful, creatively built and left us with all types of basic philosophy concepts such as truth, existence, reality, causality, and freedom….
( )

One of the best books I have ever read and I want to re-read and make notes. Kept wondering if the similarities to our world were deliberately drawn. ( )